author
Wendela Randelin
1823–1906
One of Finland’s earliest women novelists, she wrote in Swedish under the name Wendela and helped introduce the novel as a literary form in 19th-century Finland. Her best-known work, Den fallna from 1848, is noted for its unusually bold subject matter for its time.
1 Audiobook
Den Fallna: Berättelse
by Wendela Randelin
About the author
Born Wendla Johanna Cumenius in Huittinen on December 13, 1823, she was a Finnish-Swedish writer who later became known as Wendla Randelin after her marriage. She wrote under the pen name Wendela or Vendela, and lived in Finland during a period when the novel was still a relatively new form in the country.
She is best known for Den fallna (1848), a work often described as one of the first novels published in Finland and one of the early novels by a woman writer there. Scholars and library sources also note that the book stands out for its daring theme, which helped make her an important early voice in Finnish literary history.
Although only a small body of work is widely remembered today, her place in literary history remains notable. She died in Lokalahti on February 4, 1906, and is still recognized as one of the pioneering women writers of Finland’s Swedish-language literature.