Heikki Meriläinen

Born in Sotkamo on December 21, 1847, and later living in Paltamo, Heikki Meriläinen was a Finnish folk writer and collector of folklore from the Kainuu region. He came from modest circumstances and is remembered as one of Finland’s self-educated popular writers.

Meriläinen supported himself through many kinds of work, including blacksmithing, farm work, and surveying-related jobs. As an adult he learned writing more fully and began recording folk poems, charms, beliefs, and memories from the people around him. That work helped preserve local oral tradition at a time when much of it might otherwise have disappeared.

He is also noted as an early literary voice from Kainuu, publishing before better-known writers later associated with the region. He died in Paltamo on February 12, 1939, leaving behind writing that is valued both as literature and as a record of Finnish folk culture.