Joel Lehtonen

Joel Lehtonen (11 November 1881 – 1934) was a Finnish author, translator, critic and journalist. Born in Sääminki (now part of Nyslott), he committed suicide in November 1934. His childhood was fatherless and poverty-stricken, his mother suffered from mental frailties and Joel himself was forced into paupery. Joel's foster mother supported his schooling and Lehtonen was able to study literature for a few years in the University of Helsinki, but dropped out without completing a degree.

As an author, he began as a neoromanticist, but after the Finnish Civil War his outlook transformed into deep pessimism and disenchanted scepticism.