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Immi (Ingeborg)Hellén
Immi Hellén was the daughter of a cantor. She went to the Swedish girls’ school in Tampere and graduated from the Jyväskylä Teacher Seminary in 1884. She worked as a teacher in Vaasa and Helsinki. Immi Hellén made study trips to Denmark, Norway, Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Hungary, and Italy, and, on several occasions, to Sweden. She was an active supporter of the temperance movement and the movement for the prevention of cruelty to animals. Hellén was one of the first people to write children’s poetry in Finnish. Her first published poems appeared in 1880 in “Pääskynen”, a magazine edited by Julius Krohn. Most of Hellén’s poems were published in children’s and young people’s magazines. She wrote over a thousand poems. Children’s magazines played a major part in cultural life at the end of the 19th century. Immi Hellén was the editor of “Valistuksen Lastenlehti” and “Koitto” magazines. She also co-edited “Alakansakoulun lukemisto” (a lower elementary school reader). She published “Lasten runoja I Kodin ja koulun varalle” (Children’s poems for Home and School) in 1898 and “Lasten runokirja” (a book of children’s poems) in 1930. “Runoja” (Poems) was published in 1951 after her death. Immi Hellén wrote two novels for girls: “Aune” in 1896 and “Aarnio” in 1901. She also wrote a play on Christian topics. The play “Luvattu maa” (The Promised Land) was performed in the Finnish National Theatre, starring Ida Aalberg (the best-known Finnish actress of the age). Hellén’s religious views also show in her poetry. Her poems were later compiled into two books: “Lapsuuden lauluja” (1991) and “Punaposki Kultasuu” (2000).
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