Finnish Cultural Foundation’s awards go to Veli-Pekka Lehtola, Juha Hurme and Nanna Myllys
Every year, the Finnish Cultural Foundation presents three €40,000 awards for activities in the fields of science, research, art and culture. The winners are some of the most fascinating researchers, scientists, artists and influencers in their fields.
In line with the three award themes, the winners are people who are building a sustainable, pluralistic and multi-voiced Finland; strengthening the role of science, research and art in society; or are top future talents in driving change in the fields of art, science and research. The Finnish Cultural Foundation’s 2026 Grand Awards go to Sámi culture researcher Veli-Pekka Lehtola, author and theatre director Juha Hurme and physicist Nanna Myllys.
“Science, research and art are the foundation on which the future is built. We need bold people with a distinctive voice – researchers and artists who have the courage to reach for new heights, ask difficult questions and get us to see new perspectives. Their work strengthens the whole country and keeps our culture alive,” says Susanna Pettersson, CEO of the Finnish Cultural Foundation.
All of Finland: Veli-Pekka Lehtola
Veli-Pekka Lehtola (born 1959) is Professor Emeritus of Sámi culture and a non-fiction writer. Lehtola, a Northern Sámi, has had an international and diverse academic career and an impressive number of scientific publications.
Lehtola has written several award-winning books on the relationship between the Sámi and Finns and the history of their relations. Published in 2025, Kenen maa, kenen ääni? Saamelaisten ja suomalaisten suhteet esihistoriasta nykypäivään (Whose Land, Whose Voice? Relations between the Sámi and Finns from Prehistory to the Present Day; no English translation)is a comprehensive reference book on Sámi history, the relations between the Sámi and Finns and their development over time. The book is a companion piece to his 2022 book on the Sámi people’s view of their own history, Entiset elävät meissä (The Past Lives On In Us; no English translation). Lehtola has also written several other non-fiction books and biographies.
As a member of Sámi Museum Siida’s working group, Lehtola was responsible for writing the script for the museum’s current main exhibition called Enâmeh láá mii párnááh – These lands are our children. Opened in 2022 at the Sámi Museum and Nature Centre Siida, the exhibition has been a great success. Siida was the winner of the Finnish Museum of the Year and the European Museum of the Year Awards in 2024 and has broken its visitor records for several years running.
All of Finland
Veli-Pekka Lehtola is awarded the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Grand Award for his work in making Sámi history visible.
Strong science, research and art: Juha Hurme
Juha Hurme (born 1959) studied natural sciences and visual arts education. The combination has influenced his thinking and made him one of Finland’s most distinctive and versatile authors, playwrights and theatre directors.
Juha Hurme has written novels, plays and essays, translated literature and worked as a theatre director and performer. His works are often characterised by humour and a deep understanding of Finnish cultural heritage, and his best-known books offer unique perspectives on Finnish history. Niemi (2017) examines the history of the land we call Finland today, starting from the Big Bang, while Suomi (2020) focuses on the last 200 years of the country’s history.
Hurme has been involved in founding several theatre groups and has served as the artistic director of Rauma City Theatre and Telakka Theatre, among others. He is currently writing and directing a comedy about the poet and writer Eino Leino’s prolific year in 1905 for the Kajaani City Theatre. Hurme’s own career has also seen some prolific years, as any list of his scripts and the plays he has directed shows. He has also boldly tackled personal topics: his novel Hullu (2012) and the play of the same name deal with psychosis, a mental state he has suffered from. Hurme’s latest work, Suomen nuijituin nainen (2025), tells the story of Anni Polva, a prolific and popular Finnish authorspurned in her time by literary circles.
Strong science, research and art
Juha Hurme is awarded the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Grand Award for his artistic power and courage.
The best of the future: Nanna Myllys
Nanna Myllys (born 1991) obtained her PhD in physics in 2018. She received funding from the Research Council of Finland as an Academy Research Fellow for the period 2022–2028, and in 2024 she was awarded the highly competitive Starting Grant by the European Research Council (ERC) for the period 2025–2029. Myllys currently heads her own Molecular Level Atmospheric Science research group at the University of Helsinki’s Department of Chemistry.
Nanna Myllys’s research explores what is at the heart of climate change. Her ERC project focuses on developing new computational and spectroscopic methods to find out how organic compounds in the atmosphere form aerosol particles.These particle formation mechanisms are some of the greatest uncertainty factors in current climate models. Myllys’s fundamental research provides crucial information to improve the accuracy of climate models and thus directly supports environmental policymaking.
Her long-term goal is to develop a comprehensive theory linking the molecular properties of condensing vapours to global-scale climate impacts.
The best of the future
