Arto Tapio Paasilinna (, approximately ; 20 April 1942 – 15 October 2018) was a Finnish writer, being a former journalist turned comic novelist. One of Finland's most successful novelists, he won a broad readership outside of Finland in a way few other Finnish authors have before. Translated into 27 languages, over seven million copies of his books have been sold worldwide, and he has been claimed as "instrumental in generating the current level of interest in books from Finland". Paasilinna is mostly known for his 1975 novel The Year of the Hare (Jäniksen vuosi), a bestseller in France and Finland, translated into 18 languages, awarded three international prizes, and adapted twice into feature films: a 1977 Finnish film directed by Risto Jarva called The Year of the Hare, and a 2006 French film directed by Marc Rivière called Le Lièvre de Vatanen. Arto Paasilinna's brothers are the writers Erno Paasilinna, Reino Paasilinna and Mauri Paasilinna. Early and family life Arto Paasilinna was born on 20 April 1942 in the Alakylä part of the municipality of Kittilä, in Lapland, Finland. His parents were Väinö Paasilinna (1902–1950, born Gullstén, changed his surname in 1934 after a family conflict) and Hilda-Maria Paasilinna (1908–1983, born Niva). The Paasilinnas had seven children, five sons and two daughters, including the writer Erno Paasilinna; the writer, MEP and TV personality Reino Paasilinna; the painter Sirpa Paasilinna-Schlagenwarth; and the writer Mauri Paasilinna. Paasilinna studied at the General and Elementary School Line at the Lapland Folk Academy. Career Paasilinna initially worked as a journalist at Nuoren Voiman Liitto, Nuori Voima and various newspapers as writer and editor. At the weekly magazine Apu, he was an editor (1968–1970) and later a columnist (1975–1988). In 1975, at the age of 33, Paasilinna found journalism growing "more superficial and meaningless" and desired a change; that summer, he sold his boat to fund the writing of The Year of the Hare. The book was an immediate success and from 1975 on Paasilinna became an independent writer able to support himself with his novels, signed to Finnish publisher WSOY since 1977. He still wrote journalism articles and was a columnist on Finnish radio. In 2000, Paasilinna was included in the 6th edition of literary critic Pekka Tarkka(fi)'s dictionary Suomalaisia nykykirjailijoita ("Finnish Literary Authors", 1st ed. 1967). In 2002, for Paasilinna's 60th anniversary, journalist Eino Leino published a biography of Paasilinna called Lentojätkä. Arto