Irma Rantavaara (1908–1979)

Irma Rantavaara was born in Hinnerjoki, Finland. Her parents were Emil Rantavaara, a civil servant, orchestra director, and editor-in-chief
of the magazine Lempäälän-Vesilahden Sanomat, and Ida Maria Rantavaara, founder of the Lempäälä Martta Association.

Irma's childhood home was filled with music and musicians were frequent visitors. She played the piano and performed with amateur groups. Eventually, she had to choose between continuing her piano studies at the conservatory or going to university to study the humanities. She chose the latter, and began studying languages, aesthetics, and contemporary literature at the University of Helsinki. She spent many years studying in England and acquired fluent English language skills as well as knowledge of British culture.
She received her bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1932 and her licentiate degree to teach philosophy in 1944. She defended her doctorate in philosophy in 1945 with a dissertation on Dickens.
She became an English teacher at the Tampere School of Economics, a lecturer in English language at the School of Economics, and then taught English at the University of Helsinki. There she also served as an assistant professor of aesthetics and contemporary literature from 1953 to 1963. In 1963, she was appointed professor of Aesthetics and Contemporary Literature, a position she held until her retirement in 1972. In 1973, she became a visiting professor in England at the invitation of the British Academy.

Prof. Rantavaara was a member of the Board of the Finnish Cultural Foundation from 1960 to 1968 and a member of the Board and Art Department of the Finnish National Theater from 1967 to 1976. She was invited to become a member of the Finnish Academy of Sciences in 1968. Her most important publications are considered to be Charles Dickens (1946), Bloomsbury and Virginia Woolf (1953), Virginia Woolf's the Waves (1960), the collection of essays Magnifying Glass (1965), and the biography of Yrjö Hirn (1977–1978).
She had a wide-ranging circle of friends and colleagues in Finland and abroad who often visited her home.