Hella Wuolijoki

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Hella Wuolijoki
Hella Wuolijoki

Hella Wuolijoki (née Ella Murrik; born June 22, 1886, Helme, Estonia; died February 2, 1954, Helsinki, Finland) was a Finnish writer of Estonian origin, known for her Niskavuori series.

In 1908, Hella Murrik married Sulo Vuolijoki, who was a personal friend of Lenin. They divorced 1923. Later in his life Hella Wuolijoki wrote his name with "W"-letter. In 1920-1930s, Hella Vuolijoki had a "political salon" to discuss humanistic matters and to promote left-wing ideas. However, during that time she was not openly communist, although she had secret connections with Cheka. The Finnish police suspected her to be an illegal resident spy, but there was no solid proof until 1943, when she was arrested for hiding a Soviet paratrooper-spy and was sentenced to life imprisonment. She was released in 1944 after the cease-fire ended the Continuation War. Wuolijoki was a member of the Finnish Parliament and the head of the SKDL faction from 1946 to 1947. Wuolijoki also served as the director of Yleisradio from 1945 to 1949.

Hella Wuolijoki wrote books under the name of Juhani Tervapää. As a writer, Wuolijoki wrote a couple of books with the author Bertolt Brecht. They wrote a play called Mr. Puntila and his servant Matti. Her books portrait strong female characters.

Hella Wuolijoki was the grandmother of the Finnish politician Erkki Tuomioja.


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