Tom Ölander
Encyclopedia
Tom Ölander was one of the main actors to kick-start an active fannish
culture in Finland
. He was the prime mover for the second Finnish sf convention King Con in 1989 (20 years after the first one), with the assistance of a boat load of Swedish imports, and regularized the tradition of convention holding by working to institute the biannual Finncon
tradition. For these efforts he is domestically known as the "father of Finnish Fandom", and internationally as "Finland's Mr. Science Fiction".
Besides his local efforts, often worked behind the scenes, his great passion was bridge-building between far-flung corners of international fandom.
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...
culture in Finland
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...
. He was the prime mover for the second Finnish sf convention King Con in 1989 (20 years after the first one), with the assistance of a boat load of Swedish imports, and regularized the tradition of convention holding by working to institute the biannual Finncon
Finncon
Finncon is the largest science fiction convention in Finland and, with up to 15,000 participants, one of the largest SF conventions in Europe. Finncon is unique among SF conventions because it has no participation/membership fee, and is funded primarily on various cultural grants as well as income...
tradition. For these efforts he is domestically known as the "father of Finnish Fandom", and internationally as "Finland's Mr. Science Fiction".
Besides his local efforts, often worked behind the scenes, his great passion was bridge-building between far-flung corners of international fandom.