Aaltonen, Waino Valdemar b. March 8, 1894 d. May 30, 1966 Finnish sculptor. As a young man he studied painting for five years at the School of Drawing of the Turku Art Association, but as a sculptor he was largely self-taught. Working in bronze and stone, occasionally incorporating glass, he developed a naturalistic style, with some influence of Cubism, which he had encountered during a journey in Italy in 1923. He made his name as a sculptor of war memorials, his nationalistic subjects and heroic monumental figures being seen as particularly apposite...[Read More] (Bio by: Sheilia W.) Saint Mary's Churchyard, Turku, Finland Proper, Finland
Catherine (Karin Månsdotter) b. June 11, 1550 d. September 13, 1612 Queen of Sweden. She was the daughter of a little known palace guard named Magnus and his wife, Ingrid, and is the veritable Cinderella of Swedish history. Legend has it that King Eric XIV, who had a number of mistresses, all the while proposing marriage without success to several European princesses, saw Catherine selling nuts in the square near his castle in Stockholm. A fact seems to be that she worked as a barmaid at a popular local pub that the King frequented. In any case, Catherine must...[Read More] (Bio by: J T Demitz) Turku Cathedral, Turku, Finland Proper, Finland Plot: Kankas Chapel
Nurmi, Paavo b. June 13, 1897 d. October 2, 1973 Olympic Athlete. A Finnish runner who broke many records in the 1920s, he was in his first Olympics at the age of twenty-three in 1920, where he won a silver medal. He won all of his medals in a relatively short period of time, and was last in the Olympics in 1928, after his main event (the cross-country run) was dropped from the program. In total, he won nine gold medals, one of only four athletes to have done so. Later in life, Paavo Nurmi worked as a business contractor, until his death in...[Read More] (Bio by: Namida) Turku Cemetery, Turku, Finland Proper, Finland
b. March 8, 1894 d. May 30, 1966