Umayya Abu-Hanna (Arabic: أمية أبو حنا) (born 17 March 1961) is a Palestinian-Finnish[2] writer, journalist, and former member of the Helsinki City Council born in Haifa, Israel into a Palestinian family. She moved to Finland in 1981. In 2011, she moved to Amsterdam where she resides with her South African daughter.[3]

Umayya Abu-Hanna
Born (1961-03-17) 17 March 1961 (age 63)[1]
Haifa, Israel
OccupationWriter, journalist, activist
Children1
RelativesHanna Abu-Hanna (father)

Career

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In the 1980s, Abu-Hanna was a member of the Helsinki City Council (for the Green Party) and a member of the Real Estate Board of Helsinki.[citation needed]

In the 1990s, she was a journalist, documentary maker and columnist. She became known to the wider public as the first non-white presenter of the weekly current affairs news-program Ajankohtainen Kakkonen at the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE.[citation needed]

In the 2000s, she was member of the Arts Council Finland (2004–2009) and was the first chair of its Multicultural Board. Abu-Hanna was also the cultural diversity adviser of the Finnish National Gallery.[citation needed]

Her first novel, Nurinkurin, was published in 2003. Her book on identity, Sinut, was published in 2007. A manual for the cultural field, Multikulti, was published in 2012.[4] A cultural history of modern Helsinki, Alienin Silmin, was published in 2014. She co-authored A changing world, perspectives on heritage, with case studies of museums in Afghanistan.[5]

Bibliography

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  • Nurinkurin (2003)
  • Sinut (2007),[6]
  • Multkikulti (2012)
  • Alienin silmin (2014)
  • A Changing World, perspectives on heritage (2014)
  • Columns, Metro
  • Columns, Suomen Kuvalehti
  • Columns, Helsingin Sanomat
  • Columns, Finnair's in-flight magazine: Blue Wings

Awards

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  • Larin Paraske Award, The Kalevala Women's Association (2008)[7]
  • "Finn of the Year", The Finnish Civic Society (2004)
  • Finland Award (2003), Ministry of Education[8]
  • Bonnier Group Award (2002) for journalistic innovation[9]

References

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  1. ^ Umayya Abu-Hanna at IMDb
  2. ^ Helsingin Sanomat (in Finnish). In this article she calls herself Palestinian Finnish.
  3. ^ "Umayya Abu-Hanna: "Lähdin Suomesta suojellakseni tytärtäni"". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013.
  4. ^ 6d interview of Umayya Abu-Hanna, 6d.fi. Accessed 3 February 2022.
  5. ^ Abu-Hanna, Umayya; Parthesius, Robert. A CHANGING WORLD, PERSPECTIVES ON HERITAGE.
  6. ^ "Etusivu – Kirjailijat – Kaikki – Umayya Abu-Hanna". WSOY.fi. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  7. ^ Gröndahl, Satu; Rantonen, Eila (2018). Migrants and Literature in Finland and Sweden. Finnish Literature Society / SKS. p. 114. ISBN 978-952-222-992-2.
  8. ^ "Etusivu> Kirjat> Sinut (Abu-Hanna, Umayya)". WSOY.fi. Retrieved 3 March 2010.
  9. ^ Gröndahl, Satu; Rantonen, Eila (2018). Migrants and Literature in Finland and Sweden. Finnish Literature Society / SKS. p. 114. ISBN 978-952-222-992-2.
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