Bruno Nurmi

Bruno Bernhard Nurmi was born in Helsinki on May 2, 1891, and grew up in Viipuri after his family moved there while he was still young. He studied at the Finnish real lyceum in Viipuri, but illness forced him to leave school before graduating. He also spent time studying violin at the orchestra school of Viipurin Musiikinystävät, an early sign of the musical interests that would stay with him.

Nurmi worked widely in Finnish journalism. He was a reporter for Viipuri in 1915–1917, then served as a foreign news editor and editorial secretary for Itä-Suomen Työmies in 1918–1919. In Mikkeli he became editorial secretary and columnist for Mikkelin Sanomat from 1919 to 1923, and also wrote music criticism for both Mikkelin Sanomat and Länsi-Savo. After a period in banking, he returned to newspaper work as editorial secretary for Länsi-Savo in 1927–1930. Alongside journalism, he wrote light plays, translated German and French literature into Finnish, and published what became his best-known book, a biography of Richard Wagner, in 1923.

Later in life, Nurmi ran his own paper shop in Mikkeli and took part in several local organizations and associations. During the Winter War, he became seriously ill after exposure during the bombings of Mikkeli on January 5, 1940, and he died there on April 2, 1940, at the age of 48.