Johannes Haapasalo

Biographical information

RolesCompeted in Olympic Games (non-medal events)
SexMale
Full nameJohannes•Haapasalo (Kääriäinen-)
Used nameJohannes•Haapasalo
Born23 September 1880 in Mikkeli, Etelä-Savo (FIN)
Died17 December 1965 in Mikkeli, Etelä-Savo (FIN)
NOC Finland

Biography

Johannes Kääriäinen, the son of a shoemaker, studied Greek and Roman literature at the University of Helsinki. In the wake of the 1902 conscription laws, he changed his last name to Haapasalo and began his studies at the Finnish Art Association’s drawing school, where he then switched to sculpturing. The following year he fled abroad from Russian conscription with a falsified passport. From 1903 he studied first at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in København and then at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. He was a student of Auguste Rodin there for a few months in 1906, whose influence was apparent in Haapasalo’s bronze figures.

An example is the work The Boxers in the Paasivuori Park in Helsinki’s Siltasaari district, which was presented in the 1952 art exhibition. However, it was created as early as 1930 for a sculpture competition. The bronze sculpture was unveiled in 1932 and the models were two young boxers from Club Jyryn in Helsinki, Uuno Pitkä and Paavo Armas Wilkman (1904-57).

Haapasalo created sculptures for public places and, after World War II, monuments to the war dead. His career spanned an unusually long period, and he was still creating monumental works in the late 1950s. Large bronze and granite sculptures in austere classicism were his trademark. From 1954 to 1960 he was chairman and then honorary chairman of the Finnish Sculptors Association.

Haapasalo was awarded the Pro Finlandia Medal in 1953 and appointed professor in 1965. He donated his works to his hometown Mikkeli, where he also spent the last years of his life. Haapasalo’s estate formed the core of today’s Mikkeli Art Museum.

Results

Games Discipline (Sport) / Event NOC / Team Pos Medal As
1952 Summer Olympics Art Competitions FIN Johannes Haapasalo
Sculpturing, Open (Olympic (non-medal)) AC