Väinö David Lassila (9 March 1896 – 11 April 1939) was a Finnish physician, anatomist, and anthropologist who was a professor of anatomy at the University of Helsinki.

[3] After Kajava's death in 1930, Lassila was appointed the professor of anatomy and introduced to the Finnish Academy of Science and Letters.

In 1933–1934, Lassila, Yngve Roschier and Paavo Ravila ran field expeditions in Lapland, studying the Skolts and digging skulls from an ancient cemetery island in the Lake Inari.

[2][4] Lassila started questioning prevalent theories after participating the 1934 International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences in London.

[9] In the late 1930s, Lassila was one of the key figures of the Finnish Popular front movement together with Mary Rhodes Moorhouse and Erkki Vala.