Wäinö Aaltonen

Wäinö Valdemar Aaltonen (8 March 1894 – 30 May 1966) was a Finnish artist and sculptor. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary describes him as "one of the leading Finnish sculptors".

He was born to a tailor in the village of Karinainen, Finland. He attended the School of Drawing of the Turku Art Association from age 16, or specifically between 1910 and 1915. He had spent many of the early years at this school studying painting under Victor Westerholm, but he was mainly self-taught as a sculptor. He learned the technics of treatment of marble with his relative Aarre Aaltonen, and by working as a trainee stonemason in Hirvensalo. Sculptor Felix Nylund was a substitute teacher in the art school in Turku for one season, and his work was inspiration for young Aaltonen.