Paasilinna

Paasilinna is a Finnish surname. The most famous bearer is Arto Paasilinna (1942–2018), a prolific Finnish writer whose novels have been widely translated and read around the world.

Paasilinna began his career as a journalist before turning to fiction in the early 1970s. He published his breakthrough novel in 1975, Jäniksen vuosi (The Year of the Hare), a humorous road story about a man who abandons conventional life and ends up traveling with a hare. The book established his trademark blend of whimsy, satire, and social critique.

In the following decades he published dozens of novels, many featuring ordinary people thrust into surreal or transformative adventures, often set against Finnish landscapes but with universal themes. Common elements include road trips, eccentric companions, encounters with bureaucracy, and a critique of modern materialism. His prose tends toward accessible humor, vivid scenes, and humane observations.

His work achieved substantial international reach through translations into many languages, and he is regarded as one of Finland's best-known 20th-century writers. He died on October 15, 2018, leaving a substantial legacy in Nordic fiction.