Wäinö Aaltonen

Wäinö Aaltonen (1894–1966), Finnish sculptor, known for his monumental figures and busts portraying citizens of Finland following the country's independence in 1917. The bronze monument to Finnish track-and-field athlete Paavo Nurmi (1925, Helsinki Stadium, Finland) and the bust of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius (1928) are examples of his work.

Wäinö was one of the early 20th-century pioneers of direct carving, favoring granite as his medium. He later developed a more somber style of modern classicism, well suited to his public commissions, as in the allegorical figures in the Finnish Parliament House (Helsinki, 1930–1932).