Olavi Paavolainen

{{Infobox person

| name = Olavi Paavolainen

| image = Olavi Paavolainen.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Olavi Paavolainen in 1928

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1903|09|17}}

| birth_place = Kivennapa, Grand Duchy of Finland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=y|1964|07|19|1903|09|17}}

| death_place = Helsinki, Finland

| nationality =

| other_names =

| occupation = writer, poet, essayist

| years_active = 1919–1964

| known_for =

| notable_works =

}}

File:Olavi Paavolainen by Kunnas.jpg, Olavi Paavolainen, 1928]]

Olavi Paavolainen (17 September 1903 – 19 July 1964) was a Finnish writer, essayist and poet. He was one of the prominent figures of the literary group Tulenkantajat (″The Flame Bearers″), and one of the most influential Finnish writers of the inter-war period.{{cite web

|url=http://authorscalendar.info/opaavola.htm|title=Olavi (Lauri) Paavolainen (1903–1964)|first1=Petri|last1=Liukkonen

|first2=Ari|last2=Pesonen|publisher=Authors' Calendar|accessdate=22 January 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://375humanistia.helsinki.fi/en/humanists/olavi-paavolainen|title=Olavi Paavolainen|work=375 Humanists

|publisher=University of Helsinki Faculty of Arts|date=29 September 2015|accessdate=22 January 2019}} Paavolainen started his poetry career in the literary magazine Nuori Voima.{{cite book|author=Günter Berghaus

|title=International Yearbook of Futurism Studies. 2016|date=24 May 2016 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SDFBDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA127|publisher=De Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-046595-2|page=127}}

Paavolainen was interested in Fascism and National Socialism, but after the World War II he turned to the political left. Paavolainen's notable works include the 1936 travel report Kolmannen valtakunnan vieraana (″A Guest of the Third Reich″) and the 1946 Synkkä yksinpuhelu (″A Gloomy Soliloquy″), based on his war diaries. On the basis of the latter book, an adaptation of the Sign of the Beast was made in 1981, directed by Jaakko Pakkasvirta.{{cite web|url=http://www.elonet.fi/title/ek2iza/tekija|title=Pedon merkki (1981)|accessdate=7 September 2020|work=Elonet|archive-date=12 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012015859/http://www.elonet.fi/title/ek2iza/tekija|url-status=dead}}

Paavolainen was bisexual.{{cite web|url=https://kiiltomato.net/olavi-paavolainen-synkka-yksinpuhelu-paivakirjan-lehtia-vuosilta-1941-1944/|title=Kesäklassikko: Biseksuaali kareliaani sodassa|first=Pekka|last=Toikka

|publisher=Killtomato|date=13 August 2008|accessdate=22 January 2019|language=fi}} In the 1930s, he had a long relationship with the writer Helvi Hämäläinen. In 1945–1953, Paavolainen was married to the actress Sirkka-Liisa Virtamo. After the divorce he was in a relationship with the communist leader Hertta Kuusinen.