Tapio Rautavaara

Tapio Rautavaara was a Finnish bass-baritone singer, Olympic javelin champion, and film actor, born on 8 March 1915 in Pirkkala (now Nokia), near Tampere. His parents were Henrik Kerttula and Hilda Rautavaara. Three weeks after his birth, his mother moved them to the Helsinki suburb of Oulunkylä, where she had previously lived. His father was seldom home and eventually left the family for good.

In 1921, Tapio and his mother relocated to Tampere. There, his working-class background led to clashes with conservative teachers. He earned spending money by selling socialist newspapers to workers at the Finlayson textile mill. Four years later, the family returned to Oulunkylä, where Rautavaara would spend the rest of his life.

In the late 1920s, he joined the local working-class athletics club Oulunkylän Tähti. His formal schooling ended after elementary level. Before the Winter War began in 1939, he had worked as a newspaper boy, roadworker, lumberjack, and storeman at a co-operative mill. He served in the Finnish Army in the mid-1930s.

War time

During the Winter War, the Army saw little action, so Rautavaara kept his job at the OTK mill. When the Continuation War started, he was called to the army and spent its first year on the front line.

In the summer of 1942, he was moved to the war entertainment corps, working for two years as a radio journalist for Aunus Radio near the front. This made him well-known among the troops. When Finland withdrew from East Karelia in the summer of 1944, his radio work ended.

Sports career

As an athlete, Rautavaara excelled in javelin throw and archery. In 1937, he placed second in the javelin at the Workers’ Olympiads in Antwerp, representing the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation.

After World War II, he won a European bronze medal in 1946, an Olympic gold in 1948, and five Finnish national titles between 1944 and 1949. He finished fifth at the 1950 European Championships. In archery, he took a team silver at the 1958 World Championships and a national title in 1955.

Music and acting career

After the war, Rautavaara met Reino Helismaa, who wrote and composed “Reissumies ja kissa,” Rautavaara’s first hit. Composer Toivo Kärki joined them, and over the next decade the trio produced many popular songs. Rautavaara also wrote and composed some of his own records.