Helena Arnell-Gezelius was one of the first Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 painter

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

s in Finland.

She was one of the few female artists known in Scandinavia

Scandinavia

Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

 before the 19th century, along with Swedish Ulrika Pasch

Ulrika Pasch

Ulrika Fredrica Pasch , also known as Ulla Pasch, was a Swedish painter and miniaturist. She was one of few female artists known in Scandinavia before the 19th century...

 and Danish

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 Johanna Marie Fosie

Johanna Marie Fosie

Johanna Marie Fosie was a Danish painter, the first professional native female artist in Denmark.- Biography :The daughter of Anna Dorothea Ilsøe and the painter Jacob Fosie, who was a teacher in drawing in his home. She learned to paint from him, together with her siblings Michael Fosie and...

.

She was the daughter of a Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 nobleman Jonas Lauréntii Arnell and Helena Adlerbergref. In 1720 she married Johan (Johannes) Nepos Gezelius - doctor of theology and bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Porvoo

Porvoo

Porvoo is a city and a municipality situated on the southern coast of Finland approximately east of Helsinki. Porvoo is one of the six medieval towns in Finland, first mentioned as a city in texts from 14th century...

. They had a son named Johan Gezelius.

After her husband died in 1733, Helena moved to Sauvo

Sauvo

Sauvo is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Finland Proper region. The municipality had a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....

.