Arto Tapio Paasilinna is a Finnish writer, being a former journalist turned comic novelist. One of the most successful novelists of Finland, he has won a broad readership outside of Finland in a way few other Finnish authors have before. Translated into 27 languages, over seven million copies of his books have been sold worldwide, and he has been claimed as "instrumental in generating the current level of interest in books from Finland". Paasilinna is best known for his 1975 novel The Year of the Hare, a best-seller in France and Finland, translated into 18 languages, awarded three international prizes, and adapted twice into feature films. Arto Paasilinna's brothers are authors Erno Paasilinna, Reino Paasilinna and Mauri Paasilinna. 

April 20th, 1942 in Kittilä  /  Died:   Oct 15th, 2018 - complications from a stroke - aged 76