Merete Mazzarella


Merete Mazzarella is a Finland-Swedish prize-winning author and literature researcher.

Early life

Mazzarella's mother was Danish, and her father was a Finnish ambassador. Her father's mother tongue was Finnish, but they spoke Swedish at home for practical reasons. Mazzarella learnt about Finland-Swedish culture through literature.
Mazzarella attended school at the Swedish-language school Svenska fruntimmersskolan i Helsingfors in Helsinki and graduated in 1962. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1968 from the University of Helsinki and a Licentiate degree in 1977.

Career

From 1973 to 1995, Mazzarella worked as a lecturer in Finland-Swedish literature at Helsinki University. She completed her doctorate degree in 1981, on the subject of Swedish Nobel laureate Eyvind Johnson. Mazzarella held a temporary professorship in Nordic literature at Helsinki University from 1995 to 1998 and was appointed as a permanent professor from 1998 to 2008. She is Professor Emerita of Nordic Literature at the University of Helsinki.
Mazzarella has written for Hufvudstadsbladet in Finland, as well as Sydsvenska dagbladet and Dagens Nyheter in Sweden. She has written 20 books, one of the more recent being Om livets mening, published by Schildts & Söderströms in 2017 and also available in Finnish translation.

Personal life

Mazzarella was married to English lecturer Silvester Mazzarella from 1968 to 1977 and after that to literary historian Lars Gustafsson. Mazzarella married Lars Hertzberg, Professor Emeritus in philosophy at Åbo Akademi University, on 4 March 2012. They reside in Ekenäs / Tammisaari, a town in the south of Finland.

Awards