Ilmari Turja (28 October 1901 – 6 January 1998)[3] was a Finnish writer, best known as a journalist and playwright, with a career spanning nearly eight decades from the 1920s to the 1990s.

[6] Collectively, his career of running three notable and influential magazines over a period more than thirty years has been described as "unparalleled" in Finnish journalism.

His editor at the time, Mika Waltari, is known to have been unimpressed by the quality of his prose, and actively encouraged Turja to become a dramatist instead.

[3] Much of his extensive causerie and column production was also republished in book format as anthology collections, in at least nine separate volumes.

[4] During both the Winter and Continuation Wars, Turja served in the military communications corps of the Finnish Army, reaching eventually the rank of Kapteeni (Captain).