Barbara Christina Elisabeth Helsingius-Koski (née Helsingius; 27 September 1937 – 9 March 2017) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish singer, poet, and Olympic fencer.

Contents

• 1 Career
• 2 Death
• 3 Prizes
• 4 Books
• 5 Discography
• 6 References

Career

She participated at the 1960 Summer Olympics in foil fencing. Trained as a gym teacher, she took her masters in pedagogy at Stanford University (1963). Interested in American art and folk music, she began to record, and her first release, Barbara (1966), was a collection of American folk songs, translated to Finnish.

She became well known internationally, and was a member of Visens venner: in Norway, of Visans Vänner: in Helsinki, and Yrkestrubadurernas Förening: in Sweden, part of the Svenska visakademien: (1999; its only Finn), and the joint Nordic cultural organisation NordVisa:.

From 1968–1975, she lived in Oslo with her husband, Henry William "Hank" Koski, a diplomat at the U.S. emb*y. She was the mother of two daughters. Her family lives in Espoo, Finland.

Death

Helsingius died following a long illness on 9 March 2017 in Espoo, Finland at the age of 79.

Prizes

• Hambestipendiet:, Sweden (1989)
• Norsk-finsk kulturpris (1993)
• Nils Ferlin-prisen, (Sweden; 1994)
• Trubadurprisen (1994)
• NordVisa-statuetten ("Liv"; 1995)
• Pro Cultura, Espoo, Finland (1995)

Books

• Vill du visor min vän? ISBN:9789515001726
• Kanske en visa (Schildts) ISBN:9789515004727
• Eino Leino, sångarens visa, poetry collection
• Songs Finland Sings, Warner/Chappel Music Finland (2000) OCLC:53063325

Discography

• Barbara (1966; American folk songs in Finnish)
• Det var en gång (1977; own songs)
• Olipa kerran (1978; Finnish version of the above)
• Speiling (1981; Finnish songs in Norwegian)
• Barbaras blandade (1981; own songs)
• Kahlaajatyttö (1982; musical settings of the Finnish poets Aale Tynni and Aila Meriluoto)
• Fra Barbara med kjærlighet (1982; Finnish songs in Norwegian)
• Reflection. Songs from Finland (1984; Finnish songs in English)
• Drøm og bekjennelse (1986; her own and Finnish songs in Norwegian)
• Spegling (1986; Finnish-Swedish songs)
• Rakkaudella (1986; Finnish version of above)
• Tuulen niityillä (1992; Nordic songs in Finnish)
• Sånt är vårt liv (1996; own and Finnish songs in Swedish)
• Songs Finland Sings (2002; double CD of Finnish poems and songs, cl*ics and songs which she translated to English. Contains 30 artists, including the Serena choir)

References