author
Irene Mendelin
1864–1944
A pioneering Finnish poet and translator, she helped open the door for women writing poetry in Finnish. Her work also reached readers through translations and songs that kept her words alive beyond the page.
2 Audiobooks
Koivikossa II
by Irene Mendelin
Koivikossa I
by Irene Mendelin
About the author
Born in 1864, Irene Mendelin was a Finnish poet, translator, and cultural figure associated with Jyväskylä and later Saarijärvi. She is remembered as one of the earliest women to publish poetry collections in Finnish, an important milestone in Finnish literary history.
Alongside her writing, she worked for many years in practical day-to-day employment, including at the Jyväskylä customs office, while continuing her literary work. Her poems began appearing in print in the 1880s, and she also built a substantial body of work as a translator.
Mendelin died in 1944. Today she stands out not only for being an early published woman poet in Finnish, but also for the steady, wide-ranging way she contributed to literature over the course of her life.