2 Euro Proof

Eino Leino’s real name was Armas Einar Leopold Lönnbohm. He was born in Paltamo in 1878 and died in 1926. In addition to poetry, he wrote novels, plays, essays and newspaper articles. He also worked as a literary critic and translator. Among other works, he translated Dante’s *Divine Comedy* („Göttliche Komödie“) into Finnish, thereby helping to make European literature accessible to a Finnish-speaking audience.

Leino’s work emerged at a time when Finland was developing from an autonomous grand duchy within the Russian Empire into an independent state. The development of Finnish-language literature was closely linked to the emergence of a distinct cultural and national identity. Leino combined themes and forms of expression from Finnish folk poetry with contemporary European movements such as Symbolism and Neo-Romanticism. He also drew on the verse rhythm and imagery of the *Kalevala*, while addressing modern questions concerning the individual, freedom, loneliness and the relationship with nature.

Among his best-known works are the two poetry collections *Helkavirsiä*. The poem “Nocturne”, whose summer images of nature are widely known in Finland, is also part of his lyrical work. His journalistic activities also brought him into the political and cultural debates of his era.

In Finland, Leino’s birthday on 6 July is observed as Eino Leino Day and as the Day of Poetry and Summer. It is also an official flag-flying day. The coin issue took place in the year of the 90th anniversary of his death. His commemoration thus also provided an occasion to place Finnish-language poetry as a whole at the centre of a circulating coin. The imagery of the design does not refer to a portrait, but to intellectual and poetic creative power.