Merete Mazzarella

Finnish author and literature researcher

Merete Mazzarella
In 2014
Born	(1945-02-04) February 4, 1945 (age 79) Helsinki, Finland
Alma mater	Helsinki University
Occupation(s)	Writer, researcher

Merete Mazzarella (born February 4, 1945, in Helsinki) is a Swedo-Finnish prize-winning author and literature researcher.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Life and work

Mazzarella's mother was Danish, and father a Finnish ambassador. Her father's mother tongue was Finnish, but they spoke Swedish at home for practical reasons. Mazzarella learnt about Finland Swedish culture through literature.^[4]

From 1973 to 1995, Mazzarella worked as a lecturer in Finland Swedish literature [sv] at Helsinki University. She acquired her doctorate in 1981 on the subject of Swedish Nobel laureate Eyvind Johnson. Mazzarella held a temporary professorship in Nordic literature at Helsinki University from 1995 to 1998 and was a permanent professor from 1998 to 2008.^[1]

Mazzarella has written for Hufvudstadsbladet in Finland, as well as Sydsvenska dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter in Sweden.^[1]

Mazzarella is since 2012 married to Lars Hertzberg.^[2]

Awards

2008, Finnish Science Book of the Year Award [fi] (Vuoden tiedekirja) for Fredrik Charlotta Född Tengström: en nationalskalds hustru about Fredrika Runeberg, the wife of J. L. Runeberg
2009, nominated for the Finlandia Prize for Ingen saknad, ingen sorg: en dag i Zacharias Topelius liv
2015, Mazzarella's Själens nattsida was nominated for the 2015 Runeberg Prize
2021, Mazzarella was awarded the Swedish Academy Finland Prize

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Håkan Möller. "Mazzarella, Merete". Biografiskt lexikon för Finland (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Svenska litteratursällskapet i Finland. urn:NBN:fi:sls-5517-1416928958123.
^ ^a ^b "Merete Mazzarella – Uppslagsverket Finland". www.uppslagsverket.fi. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
^ "Mazzarella, Merete". kansallisbiografia.fi. Retrieved 2022-05-03.
^ Alftan, Maija (2002-11-24). ""Skandaali! Tyttäreni ei puhu suomea!"". Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). Retrieved 2022-05-03.