List of Famous people born in Finland
Mona-Liisa Nousiainen
Mona-Liisa Nousiainen was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the World Cup between 2002 and 2018. Her best World Cup finish was first place in a sprint event in Liberec Czech Republic on 12 January 2013.
Sebastian Aho
Sebastian Antero Aho is a Finnish professional ice hockey player and currently plays for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Aho formerly played with Oulun Kärpät in the Finnish Liiga. Aho made his professional debut with Oulun Kärpät during the 2013–14 season. Drafted 35th overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, he made his NHL debut during the 2016–17 season with the Hurricanes.
Hannu Mikkola
Hannu Olavi Mikkola was a Finnish world champion rally driver. He was a seven-time winner of the 1000 Lakes Rally in Finland and won the RAC Rally in Great Britain four times.
Mika Salo
Mika Juhani Salo is a Finnish former professional racing driver. He competed in Formula One between 1994 and 2002. His best ranking was 10th in the world championship in 1999, when he stood in for the injured Michael Schumacher at Ferrari for six races, scoring two podiums. He also won the GT2 class in the 2008 and 2009 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1943. At the same time, she was writing short stories and articles for publication, as well as creating the graphics for book covers and other purposes. She continued to work as an artist and a writer for the rest of her life.
Ville Haapasalo
Ville Juhana Haapasalo is a Finnish stage and film actor who has worked in Finland and Russia. His acting career started in 1995, after he finished his studies in St. Petersburg. In 2003, he was honored with the State Prize of the Russian Federation for his role of Veikko in the film The Cuckoo directed by Aleksandr Rogozhkin.
Paavo Nurmi
Paavo Johannes Nurmi was a Finnish middle-distance and long-distance runner. He was called the "Flying Finn" or the "Phantom Finn", as he dominated distance running in the early 20th century. Nurmi set 22 official world records at distances between 1500 metres and 20 kilometres, and won nine gold and three silver medals in his twelve events in the Summer Olympic Games. At his peak, Nurmi was undefeated for 121 races at distances from 800 m upwards. Throughout his 14-year career, he remained unbeaten in cross country events and the 10,000 m.
Teemu Selänne
Teemu Ilmari Selänne, nicknamed "The Finnish Flash", is a Finnish former professional ice hockey winger. He began his professional career in 1989–90 with Jokerit of the SM-liiga and played 21 seasons in the National Hockey League (NHL) for the Winnipeg Jets, Anaheim Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche. Selänne is the highest scoring Finn in NHL history, and one of the highest overall; he retired in 2014 11th all-time with 684 goals and 15th with 1,457 points. He holds numerous team scoring records for both the Winnipeg/Arizona franchise and the Anaheim Ducks. His jersey number 8 was retired by the Ducks in 2015. In 2017 Selänne was named one of the '100 Greatest NHL Players' in history. On June 26, 2017, Selänne was elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame as the second Finn after Jari Kurri.
Bengt Holmström
Bengt Robert Holmström is a Finnish economist who is currently Paul A. Samuelson Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Together with Oliver Hart, he received the Central Bank of Sweden Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2016.
Hanna Karttunen
Hanna Karttunen is a Finnish professional Latin American and exhibition dancer. She also trained in ballet as a child, having a love of dance from a very early age.