Introduction
Jarl Robert Hemmer (18 September 1893 – 6 December 1944) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author. He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature eight times.
Life
He was born into a wealthy family, from Vaasa, Finland. His first collection of poems was called Rösterna (The Voices) and it was published in 1914. He made his breakthrough in 1922 with another collection of epic poetry called Rågens rike (Realm of the Rye). He got The Great Nordic Novel Prize (Stora Nordiska Romanpriset) for En man och hans samvete (A Fool of Faith), a book about the Finnish Civil War, published in 1931. Inwardly troubled, he experienced several religious crises and alcoholism and finally committed suicide.
Following the murder of Kaj Munk on 4 January 1944 the Danish resistance newspaper De frie Danske brought condemning reactions from influential Scandinavians, including Hemmer.