Arja Saijonmaa

Who is Arja Saijonmaa?

Arja Enni Helena Saijonmaa is a Finnish singer, political activist and occasional actress.

She studied at the Sibelius Academy and earned a Bachelor of Arts at the Helsinki University. She made her breakthrough as a singer in Sweden. She has made albums with Swedish translations of songs by Mikis Theodorakis, as well as covers of Zarah Leander songs.

In 1978 she issued Miten voi kyllin kiittää, an album of Finnish translations of the songs of the Chilean composer and singer Violeta Parra. A Swedish version, Jag vill tacka livet, came out the following year. The title song, Jag vill tacka livet was one of her greatest hits. She sang this at Swedish prime minister Olof Palme’s funeral in 1986. Palme had been a close friend, and his widow wanted Arja to sing at the funeral.

As a politician, she has been a member of the Swedish People's Party in Finland, and in 1987 she was appointed UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador.

She has written a Norwegian-language book, Sauna, about the Finnish sauna tradition.

She appeared in the first season of Let's Dance, the Swedish version of Strictly Come Dancing in 2006. Her professional partner was Tobias Karlsson, aged 28, and they were eliminated in the 7th week.