Ester ”Essi” Renvall (née Lähde; 3 October 1911

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

– 18 October 1979

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

) was a Finnish sculptor. She studied in Suomen Taideyhdistyksen piirustuskoulu 1930–1932. Her works were in public exhibition for the first time in 1933. Her best known works include busts of women and children. She also made portraits of famous people, including presidents

Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (, ; 28 January 1865 – 22 September 1952) was a Finnish jurist and academic, which was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a libera ...

Risto Ryti Risto Heikki Ryti (; 3 February 1889 – 25 October 1956) served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar perio ...

, J.K. Paasikivi and

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

. Renvall was one of the first female sculptors in Finland to get commissioned public works, and to make a living for herself and her family by her artistic work. Publishing house WSOY commissioned a series of busts of their leading writers, such as

Mika Waltari Mika Toimi Waltari (; 19 September 1908 – 26 August 1979) was a Finnish writer, best known for his best-selling novel ''The Egyptian'' ( fi, Sinuhe egyptiläinen). He was extremely productive. Besides his novels he also wrote poetry, short stori ...

and

Saima Harmaja Saima Rauha Maria Harmaja (8 May 1913, Helsinki – 21 April 1937) was a Finnish poet and writer. She is known for her tragic life and early death, which are reflected in her sensitive poems. She came from a prominent family; her maternal grand ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renvall, Essi 1911 births 1979 deaths Finnish women artists 20th-century Finnish sculptors 20th-century Finnish women artists