Tauno Pylkkänen

His real father, Heikki Pakarinen, who had fallen into the Red Guard against his will, died in the Hämeenlinna prison camp in August 1918.

Pylkkänen was a student of Leevi Madetoja and Selim Palmgren, and studied at the Helsinki Conservatory, then in Paris, Rome, and Vienna.

In December 1948, Pylkkänen was caught in a police raid on a "gay meeting place" and brought to justice (homosexuality was a crime in Finland until 1971), but he was acquitted and the case was not made public.

His ability to work waned soon after finishing the Unknown Soldier, so he stopped composing at the age of 49 and was on leave from the National Opera in May 1968.

In his last years he spent a quiet life in the Lalluka Artists' Home [fi] in Etu-Töölö, Helsinki.