Arja Enni Helena Saijonmaa (born 1 December 1944 in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34, ...

) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

singer,

political activist A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some ...

and occasional actress.

Life and career

She studied at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It ...

and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. She made her breakthrough as a singer in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. She has made albums with Swedish translations of songs by

Mikis Theodorakis Michail "Mikis" Theodorakis ( el, Μιχαήλ "Μίκης" Θεοδωράκης ; 29 July 1925 – 2 September 2021) was a Greek composer and lyricist credited with over 1,000 works. He scored for the films ''Zorba the Greek'' (1964), '' Z'' ...

, as well as covers of

Zarah Leander Zarah Leander (; 15 March 1907 – 23 June 1981) was a Swedish singer and actress whose greatest success was in Germany between 1936 and 1943, when she was contracted to work for the state-owned Universum Film AG (UFA). Although no exact rec ...

songs. In 1978 she issued ''Miten voi kyllin kiittää'', an album of Finnish translations of the songs of the Chilean composer and singer

Violeta Parra Violeta del Carmen Parra Sandoval (; 4 October 1917 – 5 February 1967) was a Chilean composer, singer-songwriter, folklorist, ethnomusicologist and visual artist. She pioneered the Nueva Canción Chilena (The Chilean New Song), a renewal a ...

. A Swedish version, ''Jag vill tacka livet'', came out the following year. The title song, "Jag vill tacka livet" ("

Gracias a la vida "Gracias a la vida" ( Spanish for "''Thanks to life''") is a song written, composed and performed by Chilean Violeta Parra, one of the artists who was part of the movement and musical genre known as the Nueva Canción Chilena. Parra composed " ...

") was one of her greatest hits. Swedish prime minister

Olof Palme Sven Olof Joachim Palme (; ; 30 January 1927 – 28 February 1986) was a Swedish politician and statesman who served as Prime Minister of Sweden from 1969 to 1976 and 1982 to 1986. Palme led the Swedish Social Democratic Party from 1969 until ...

had been a close friend, and his widow wanted Arja to sing at the funeral in 1986. She sang Enai Megalos O Kaimos in Swedish. In 1987, she participated at

Melodifestivalen Melodifestivalen (; literally "the Melody Festival") is an annual song competition organised by Swedish public broadcasters Sveriges Television (SVT) and Sveriges Radio (SR). It determines the country's representative for the Eurovision Song C ...

with the song " Högt över havet", ending up second. The same year, she scored a

Svensktoppen ''Svensktoppen'' () is a weekly record chart airing at Sveriges Radio. Until January 2003, the songs had to be in the Swedish language. Svensktoppen has aired since 1962, except for the years 1982-1985. The last years before the January 2003 cha ...

hit with the song '' Jag vill leva i Europa''. As a politician, she has been a member of the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

in Finland, and in 1987 she was appointed

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNHCR goodwill ambass ...

. She has written a Norwegian-language book, ''Sauna'', about the

Finnish sauna The Finnish sauna ( sv, bastu) is a substantial part of Finnish and Estonian culture. It was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists at the December 17, 2020 meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguardi ...

tradition. She appeared in the first season of Let's Dance, the Swedish version of

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

in 2006. Her professional partner was Tobias Karlsson, aged 28, and they were eliminated in the 7th week. In December 2007, Saijonmaa participated in the Swedish reality show ''

Stjärnorna på slottet ''Stjärnorna på slottet'' (English: ''Stars at the Castle'') is a Swedish show featuring five film or music stars which is usually broadcast during the Christmas and New Year Eve weekend and a bit into January each year. The show was broadcast ...

'' along with

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm (born August 27, 1953), better known as Peter Stormare (), is a Swedish actor who holds both Swedish and American citizenship. He played Gaear Grimsrud in the film '' Fargo'' (1996) and John Abruzzi in the television ser ...

Britt Ekland Britt Ekland (; born Britt-Marie Eklund; 6 October 1942) is a Swedish actress, model and singer. She appeared in numerous films in her heyday throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including roles in '' The Double Man'' (1967), '' The Night They Raided ...

Jan Malmsjö Jan Wilhelm Malmsjö (born 29 May 1932) is a Swedish stage and film actor, musical star and singer. He is married to Marie Göranzon and father to Jonas Malmsjö. Biography Malmsjö was born in Lund, Sweden. He trained at the prestigious Roy ...

and

Magnus Härenstam Johan Herbert Magnus Härenstam (19 June 1941 – 13 June 2015) was a Swedish television host, actor and comedian. Härenstam hosted the Swedish version of the game-show ''Jeopardy!'' for 14 years before being replaced by Adam Alsing. Hären ...

. She participated in

Melodifestivalen 2019 Melodifestivalen 2019 was the 59th edition of the Swedish music competition Melodifestivalen and was held between 2 February 2019 and 9 March 2019. Presenters were Sarah Dawn Finer, Kodjo Akolor, Marika Carlsson and Eric Saade. Edward af Sillé ...

with the song "Mina fyra årstider". Saijonmaa is both Finnish and Swedish voice actor of Emma the Stage Rat in the Finnish-British animated television family drama Moominvalley (2019–).

Discography

Finnish language *1972: ''Laula kanssani toveri'' *1972: ''Arja Saijonmaa & Mikis Theodorakis'' *1973: ''Koko yön minun poikani valvoi'' *1975: ''Huomenta sydämeni'' *1979: ''Jokainen arkiaamu - Arja Saijonmaa & Mikis Theodorakis Ateenassa'' *1979: ''Miten voin kyllin kiittää'' *1981: ''Ruotsiin ja takaisin'' *1983: ''Ystävän laulu'' *1985: '' La Cumparsita'' *1988: ''Arja Saijonmaa &

George de Godzinsky George de Godzinsky (5 July 1914, Saint Peterburg, Russia — 23 May 1994, Espoo, Finland) was a Finnish composer, pianist and conductor of Polish descent. Godzinsky is known for his Schlager music although he composed music for movies and oper ...

Finlandia-talossa'' *1989: ''Yhteinen taivas ja maa'' *1993: ''Paijaa mua'' *2000: ''Sydänten silta'' *2006: ''Rakkaus on rohkeutta'' Reissues *1985: ''Valitut laulut'' *1988: ''Arja Saijonmaa'' (2LP) *1995: ''20 Suosikkia: Ystävän laulu: '' *2001: ''20 Suosikkia:

Satumaa "Satumaa" (roughly, in English "The Fabled Land" or "The Fairytale Land") is the quintessential Finnish tango. It was written by Unto Mononen, and published in 1955. The most famous recording is probably the one made by Reijo Taipale in 1962. T ...

'' *2007: ''Tähtisarja - 30 suosikkia'' (2CD) Swedish language *1977: ''Det är tid att sjunga sånger'' *1977: ''Tango Jalousie'' *1978: ''Arja Saijonmaa i Stockhomns konserthus'' *1979: ''Jag vill tacka livet'' *1981: ''Sånger från asfalt och ängar'' *1982: ''Leksar och parfym'' *1987: ''Högt över havet'' *1988: ''Arja sjunger Zarah'' *1989: ''Samma himmel, samma sol'' *1994: '' La Cumparsita'' *1998: ''Bara du kommer'' *1999: ''En bro av gemenskap'' *2003: ''Arja Nära'' Reissues *1994: ''Arja's bästa'' *2000: ''Guldkorn'' *2002: ''100%'' (2CD) *2005: ''Vad du än trodde så trodde du fel'' Other languages *1976: ''Bonjour mon coeur'' *1983: ''Es ist Zeit''

Films

Arja Saijonmaa has appeared in the following films: *1969: ''Punatukka'' *1969: ''Pohjan tähteet'' *1979: '' Herr Puntila and His Servant Matti''

Bibliography

Swedish language *''Sauna'', (bound) Malmö, Sweden : Richters förlag, 2000 Swedish 271 pages. *''En ung naken kvinna : mötet med Mikis'' (A young naked woman - the meeting with Mikis), (bound) Stockholm, Sweden : Piratförlaget, 2011 Swedish 443 pages, 6picture pages + 1 CD with four songs by

References

Sources

Tony Latva and Petri Tuunainen, Iskelmän tähtitaivas, WSOY 2004,
M.A. Numminen, Tango on intohimoni, Schilds 1998,

External links

Official website
(warning: background music)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saijonmaa, Arja 1944 births Living people People from Mikkeli Melodifestivalen contestants United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Goodwill Ambassadors Sibelius Academy alumni Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish-language singers Finnish expatriates in Sweden Finnish expatriates in France Participants in Swedish reality television series 20th-century Finnish women singers 21st-century Finnish women singers