Lauri Viita
Born	(1916-12-17)17 December 1916 Pirkkala, Finland
Died	22 December 1965(1965-12-22) (aged 49) Helsinki, Finland

Lauri Arvi Viita (17 December 1916 – 22 December 1965) was a poet hailing from the Pispala district of Tampere, Finland.

Viita was a verbally talented son of a carpenter who became a self-taught writer. He only published four poetry collections, but they became very popular. He also inspired other writers who had a working-class background. Viita's last creative years were shadowed by a mental illness, and he spent several periods in hospital.^[1]

Viita wrote mainly traditional poetry with rhymes. In 1950s, he was shadowed by emerging modernists such as Paavo Haavikko and Tuomas Anhava. He played with words and published e.g. a poem where all words started with letter K.^[2]

Viita was married three times and had seven children. His second wife was famous poet Aila Meriluoto. Viita died in a car accident in December 1965,^[3] when the taxi he was in was struck by a truck driven by a drunk driver.^[4]

Selected works

• Betonimylläri (poems, 1947)
• Kukunor (a poetic fairytale, 1949)
• Moreeni (a novel, 1950)
• Käppyräinen (poems, 1954)
• Suutarikin, suuri viisas (poems, 1961)
• Entäs sitten, Leevi (a novel, 1965)