Ruth Helena Anhava (24 October 1925 – 24 November 2018) was a prolific Finnish poet, author and translator. Her translations include novels, plays, lyrics and dozens of auditions.
Helena Anhava
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Poet Helena Anhava with husband Tuomas Anhava
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| Born | (1925-10-24)24 October 1925
Helsinki, Finland
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| Died | 24 November 2018(2018-11-24) (aged 93)
Helsinki, Finland
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| Nationality | Finnish |
| Occupation(s) | Poet, Author and Translator . |
| Honours | State Literature Prize
Recognition Award of the Finnish Writers' Union Alfred Kordelin Foundation Award Samuli Paronen Award |
She was born Ruth Helena Pohjanpää on 24 October 1925, in Helsinki. Her father, Lauri Pohjanpää, was a poet, theologian and teacher.
Her husband was Tuomas Anhava (1927-2001), a poet, translator, essayist and publisher.[1] The couple had four children; the best known was their son, Martti Anhava (b.1955), a Finnish writer, translator and journalist.[2]
Helena Anhava graduated from high school in 1944 and graduated in librarianship in 1952. From 1947 to 1952, she worked at Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, a Finnish publisher of general literature. From 1952 on, she was a Finnish translator.[1]
Anhava was said to have contributed to the short story anthology Seven Short Stories in 1968. Her first poetry collection, Sorrowful Hearts Must Speak Quietly appeared in 1971, and one of her last collection was published in 2010 when she was more than 80 years old.[1]
Through her work, Anhava took pains to defend middle-class values as well as the fundamental desire for self-protection. Schoolfield[3] has categorized Anhava as a "poet of outstanding stature and permanent worth." He writes that her poetry "speaks for the family, the sensitive human being, and the private life from a mother's perspective."[3] He goes on to speculate that her work might reflect the childhood of a middle-class family whose life was terribly shaken by the events of World War II during the writer's "youthful years."[3]
She published poetry collections, aphorisms, short stories, including Kun on nuorin (When one is youngest, 1985), hearing games and children's books. The themes exhibited in her work often reflect the change of time and conflicts between the generations.[2][3]
In addition to poems, Anhava published aphorisms, short story collections, children's books, and auditions, and she translated novels, plays, auditions, children's and youth books and lyrics. She also edited textbooks, anthologies and poetry collections.[1]
For the 1977 Finnish television film titled Climber, she was credited as an English language writer.[4]
She died in Helsinki, 24 November 2018, at the age of 93.[1]
Anhava's poems have been translated most commonly into Swedish, Norwegian and Estonian languages.[2]
According to worldcat.org, 93 of her works can be found in 255 publications in 4 languages in libraries worldwide.[5]