Ruben Oskar Auervaara

He became famous by cheating money from women he met through newspaper announcements, by pretending to intend to marry them.

Unto Parvilahti tells in his book Berijan tarhat that he had met Auervaara at the Helsinki County Prison in Katajanokka in autumn 1944.

According to Parvilahti, Auervaara was a "diminutive, rather worthless-looking man", so "in regard of his appearance, it is hard to believe he achieved such success with the ladies".

However, he mentions having agreed to write out the defence document Auervaara had designed for himself: he was interested to see how the charming conman would defend himself.

Parvilahti kept the content of this document to himself, but mentions having wondered how bad Auervaara's handwriting and grasp of the Finnish grammar was, even though he had made successful contacts by exchanging letters.

In return for the writing work, Auervaara cleaned Parvilahti's cell and gave him cigars and flower bouquets.

"[4] Auervaara became a celebrity in January 1945, when the criminal investigation unit of the police published his photograph and an announcement asking his victims to report themselves in the country's largest newspapers.

[1] According to criminologist Timo Kautto, the events that had led to suicide were seen by the court as so grave that Auervaara had to serve his sentence in isolation.

[6] In the press, the word "auervaara" has become a term used occasionally in reports of crimes where women are tricked into promises of marriage.

[citation needed] Auervaara was the butt of jokes also in some cuplés by Reino Helismaa, such as "Oli mulla ennen" ("Oli mulla ennen heilakin, mut enää ole ei / Minulta jo ennen sotia sen Auervaara vei") and "Missä, milloin ja miten vaan" ("Oon herrasmies ja milloinkaan en naisiin kajoa / ja Auervaaran asteelle en koskaan vajoa").

[9] Sauvo Puhtila's Finnish translation of the Swedish Eurovision song Kevätauer (Sol och vår) also has a line that can be heard either as "kun kevätauer vaarat tuo" ("when the spring mist brings danger") or "kun kevät Auervaarat tuo" ("when the spring brings Auervaaras").