Jaakko Laitinen
Humanist of the day

Jaakko Laitinen

Jaakko Laitinen is the singer-songwriter with the Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha band. As well as singing with Finland’s most manically praised live band, Laitinen studies west and south Slavonic languages and culture in the University of Helsinki’s Department of Modern Languages.

Jaakko Laitinen

Jaakko Laitinen
Born December 4, 1981, Rovaniemi.

Bachelor of Business Administration (Librarianship), Librarian and Information Services training programme, Oulu University of Applied Sciences, 2007
Undergaduate, studies since 2008, west and south Slavic languages and cultures, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki

Singer-songwriter
Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha 2009-
Orkestar Business Class 2004-2008

Publications, awards and special achievements
Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha: Lapland-Balkan (2013)
Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha: Yö Rovaniemellä (2012)
Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha: s/t (2010)
Orkestar Business Class: s/t (2008)

Runner-up, Runon ja laulun sokkotreffit (’Poetry and song blind date’ competition), 2014
Vuoden kansanmusiikkilevy 2012 (’Folk music record of the year’), Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha: Yö Rovaniemellä
Aholaita-Femma award 2012
Virtain karaokekuningas (’most energetic king of karaoke’), 2002
Rovaniemi ilmakitarakuningas (’King of Air Guitar’), 2000

Photo: Arttu Nieminen
Written by Jaakko Laitinen (Kaija Hartikainen, toim.)
Translated by John Calton

Student or musician?

Jaakko Laitinen’s greatest contribution to Finnish culture has been as the singer and songwriter of the band Jaako Laitinen & Väärä Raha. The band experiments with diverse elements in its music, using Balkan music cultures, old Russian romances and Finnish ballads from the golden age. These ingredients mix up…

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My best moment at the University of Helsinki

My great-aunt Marjatta Wis (1915-2008) was Professor of Germanic Philology at the University of Helsinki. The collection of international stamps I had as a child I was able to assemble largely due to correspondence with aunt Marjatta and her husband Roberto Wis.

I felt indeed anxious when my studies started…

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