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Teemu Selänne is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a winger. Dubbed the Finnish Flash, Teemu is the highest scoring player from Finland in the history of the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2017, he became only the second Finn after Jari Kurri to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Finnish retired hockey player Jari Kurri is not just a 5-time Stanley Cup winner but also the first from his country to be part of the Hockey Hall of Fame. An Olympic bronze medal winner, he managed the Finnish team post-retirement. He is married to former Miss Finland, Vanessa Forsman.
Finland’s 46th prime minister, Sanna Marin has also previously been the country’s minister of transport and communications. A Social Democratic Party member, she was dragged into a controversy after a video of her partying and dancing became viral in 2022, with critics accusing her of drug abuse.
Finnish-born American singer, actor, voice artist and Second World War veteran George Gaynes served the Royal Netherlands Navy during the war. He later immigrated to the US and became a US citizen before commencing his career in acting on Broadway. He is most noted for his performances in the Police Academy series and in the satirical romantic comedy film Tootsie.
Finnish racing driver Mika Salo was once a prominent member of Formula One. Post-retirement, he has worked for Finnish MTV3 Formula One as a commentator and has also been a host on Test Drive by Mika Salo. He has been featured on Driven to Extremes, too.
Ville Valo is a Finnish musician and singer-songwriter. Valo is best known for his association with the gothic rock band HIM, where he performs as the lead vocalist. He is also credited with co-founding the band and has won many awards as part of the band. Ville Valo is also considered a sex symbol by many publications in Finland.
Finland’s 11th president, Tarja Halonen was also the first Finnish female politician to hold the post. Initially a lawyer at the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions, she stepped into politics as the parliamentary secretary of Finnish prime minister Kalevi Sorsa. She has also been Finland’s minister of justice and foreign affairs.
Joel Pohjanpalo is a Finnish football player who plays as a striker. An important player for the Finland national football team, Pohjanpalo has also played for popular clubs like Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV.
Finnish rock singer Lauri Ylönen and the founder of the band The Rasmus was just 5 when he began playing the piano. Apart from his quirky hairstyles, he is also known for wearing crow’s feather in his hair. Also known as Lintu, he has toured all over Europe with The Rasmus.
Esa-Pekka Salonen is a Finnish composer and conductor. He is best known for his service as the artistic advisor and principal conductor of London's Philharmonia Orchestra. He is also associated with the San Francisco Symphony, where he serves as the music director. Esa-Pekka Salonen is one of the most renowned conductors and composers of his genaration.
Esa Tikkanen is a Finnish retired ice hockey player who played as a forward. He is best known for his association with the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) with which he won four Stanley Cups. Esa Tikkanen took his overall tally of Stanley Cups to five when he helped New York Rangers win the title in 1994.
Vera Jordanova is a Bulgarian-Finnish model, actress, and cookbook author. She is best known for her portrayal of Axelle Rassimov in the 2007 American horror film Hostel: Part II. Vera Jordanova has also been featured on many popular magazines like Maxim, FHM, and Esquire.
Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, based in Paris, France, had a profound shift in her artistic-direction from strict serialism towards spectralism after hearing spectral-music and conducting research at IRCAM. She has received several commissions from IRCAM including for the BBC; and also from Lincoln Center. She was named the greatest living composer in a 2019 composers' poll by BBC Music Magazine.
Markku Alen is a Finnish retired rally and race car driver. He had an impressive record in the World Rally Championship, although he never won the championship itself. Markku Alen is credited with coining and popularizing the phrase, now maximum attack.
Finland’s minister of the environment and climate change, Maria Ohisalo has also led her country as its minister of the interior. The Green League leader is also determined to eradicate poverty and homelessness, as she herself grew up amid poverty and had a tough childhood with an alcoholic father.
Patrik Antonius is a Finnish poker player and former tennis player. A multi-talented personality, Antonius has also worked as a model. As a poker player, Patrik Antonius has been mentored by famous poker players like Jennifer Harman and Marcel Lüske.
Apart from being the top-seeded Finnish tennis player in singles, Emil Ruusuvuori has also had a career-high world singles ranking of 48. While he took up badminton as a child, a coach suggested tennis to him at age 5, which led him to join his first ITF Juniors tournament at 14.
The 43rd prime minister of Finland, politician Alexander Stubb has also been the country’s minister of finance, foreign affairs, and European affairs. Equipped with a strong background in academia and civil service, he has authored several books and has also led the European Investment Bank as its vice-president.
Timo Salonen is a Finnish retired rally driver best known for winning the 1985 World Rally Championship for Peugeot. Salonen was initially written off by the media and the experts as he was overweight, smoked heavily, and wore thick glasses. However, Timo Salonen proved his critics wrong by becoming the most successful driver of World Rally Championship's Group B era.
Robin Lod is a Finnish football player who plays as a midfielder. He is best known for his association with HJK between 2011 and 2015, during which he helped the team win a Finnish League Cup, Finnish Cup, and three successive Veikkausliiga titles. Robin Lod currently plays for the Minnesota United FC.
Finnish cellist and composer Perttu Kivilaakso started playing cello as a child. He performed with the Finnish symphonic-metal band Apocalyptica in 1995 and joined them in 1999. He has made several original compositions for the band including Beautiful and Farewell. He has also composed music for documentary films and the video game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne.
Finnish guitarist Roope Latvala is best known for his association with the melodic death metal band Children of Bodom. He was apparently fired from the band for his lack of commitment and later complained of being betrayed by his own bandmates. He has also been part of bands such as Sinergy and Stone.
Michael Monroe is a Finnish multi-instrumentalist and rock musician. He achieved popularity as a member of glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, where he performed as a vocalist. Along with the band, Michael Monroe is credited with influencing many rock'n'roll bands and artists, including Nikki Sixx, Vince Neil, Slash, and Guns N' Roses.
Alexander Ring is a Finnish footballer who represented the national team from 2011 to 2018. He participated in tournaments like the Baltic Cup and helped his team win the silver medal and the bronze medal at the 2012 and 2014 Baltic Cup respectively. Ring is also known for his association with HJK, winning the Finnish Cup and Veikkausliiga in 2011.
Mostly known by his ring name, Ludvig Borga, Finnish wrestler, MMA fighter, and boxer Tony Halme had an eventful life. Known for his homophobic and pro-Nazi views, he was also an actor, a musician, a politician, and a writer. He also struggled with mental health issues and short-term memory loss.
Mika Waltari was a Finnish writer best remembered for his novel, The Egyptian. A prolific writer, Waltari also wrote poetry, crime novels, short stories, plays, essays, film scripts, travel stories, and rhymed texts for Asmo Alho's comic strips. A recipient of five State Literature awards, Mika Waltari was honored with the prestigious Pro Finlandia Medal in 1952.
One of the most prominent composers from Finland, Einojuhani Rautavaara was the son of an opera singer and thus no stranger to music as a child. In his career of over 7 decades, he created numerous masterpieces, including the operas Aleksis Kivi and Vincent. His works include choral, chamber, and electronic music, too.
Finnish singer-songwriter Samu Haber is best known as the lead singer of the pop-rock band Sunrise Avenue. Till 14, he had also been an avid ice hockey player. He penned hit tracks such as Hollywood Hills. He was later associated with the German talent reality show The Voice of Germany.
Modernist painter Helene Schjerfbeck is best-remembered for her realist-works and self-portraits, besides landscapes and still-lifes. She started with French-influenced realism and plein-air paintings and was later drawn towards portraits and still-life paintings. One of the most popular works of Schjerfbeck, whose birthday is celebrated in Finland as national day for the painted arts, is Dancing Shoes, done in Realist style.
Kari Lehtonen is a Finnish ice hockey player who plays as a goaltender. Currently an unrestricted free agent, Lehtonen previously represented the Dallas Stars of the NHL. An important player for the Finland national team, Kari Lehtonen helped his team win the bronze medal at the 2014 Olympic Games. He also won a silver medal at the 2007 World Championships.
Petteri Koponen is a Finnish basketball player who played an important role in his national team's success in the summer of 2007. He has won seven Finnish Player of the Year awards, including six consecutive times from 2011 to 2016. Over the course of his career, Koponen has also played for popular clubs like FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich.
Mauno Manninen was a Finnish painter, poet, and theatre director. He is best remembered for founding Intimiteatteri, one of Helsinki's most important theatres from 1949 to 1987. Mauno Manninen is also known as the son of the famous poet Otto Manninen.
Lars Ahlfors was a Finnish mathematician best remembered for his text on complex analysis and his work concerning Riemann surfaces. He also made decisive contributions to value distribution theory, meromorphic curves, quasiconformal mappings, and conformal geometry among other areas. Lars Ahlfors was the recipient of the Fields Medal, Wolf Prize, Wihuri Prize, and Leroy P. Steele Prize.
Ilkka Villi is a Finnish writer and actor. He is best known for his work in the action-adventure video game, Alan Wake; he portrays the title role in the game. A versatile actor, Villi has portrayed a variety of roles in film, television, and theatre. He is also known for playing Niko Uusitalo in the crime drama television series, Bordertown.
Finnish singer-songwriter Marko Saaresto co-wrote Late Goodbye with Olli Tukiainen for the game Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max PayneI. Success of the song that became a cult hit led them to form the rock band Poets of the Fall. Since then Saaresto and the band has gained success with singles like Lift and albums like Carnival of Rust.
