Barbara Helsingius
Barbara Christina Elisabeth Helsingius-Koski (née Helsingius; 27 September 1937 – 9 March 2017) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish singer, poet, and Olympic fencer.

Career
She participated at the 1960 Summer Olympics in foil fencing. Trained as a gym teacher, she took her masters in pedagogy at Stanford University (1963). Interested in American art and folk music, she began to record, and her first release, Barbara (1966), was a collection of American folk songs, translated to Finnish.She became well known internationally, and was a member of Visens venner in Norway, of Visans Vänner in Helsinki, and Yrkestrubadurernas Förening in Sweden, part of the Svenska visakademien (1999; its only Finn), and the joint Nordic cultural organisation NordVisa.From 1968–1975, she lived in Oslo with her husband, Henry William "Hank" Koski, a diplomat at the U.S. embassy. She was the mother of two daughters. Her family lives in Espoo, Finland.

Death
Helsingius died following a long illness on 9 March 2017 in Espoo, Finland at the age of 79.

Prizes
Hambestipendiet, Sweden (1989)
Norsk-finsk kulturpris (1993)
Nils Ferlin-prisen, (Sweden; 1994)
Trubadurprisen (1994)
NordVisa-statuetten ("Liv"; 1995)
Pro Cultura, Espoo, Finland (1995)

Books
Vill du visor min vän? ISBN 9789515001726
Kanske en visa (Schildts) ISBN 9789515004727
Eino Leino, sångarens visa, poetry collection
Songs Finland Sings, Warner/Chappel Music Finland (2000) OCLC 53063325

Discography
Barbara (1966; American folk songs in Finnish)
Det var en gång (1977; own songs)
Olipa kerran (1978; Finnish version of the above)
Speiling (1981; Finnish songs in Norwegian)
Barbaras blandade (1981; own songs)
Kahlaajatyttö (1982; musical settings of the Finnish poets Aale Tynni and Aila Meriluoto)
Fra Barbara med kjærlighet (1982; Finnish songs in Norwegian)
Reflection. Songs from Finland (1984; Finnish songs in English)
Drøm og bekjennelse (1986; her own and Finnish songs in Norwegian)
Spegling (1986; Finnish-Swedish songs)
Rakkaudella (1986; Finnish version of above)
Tuulen niityillä (1992; Nordic songs in Finnish)
Sånt är vårt liv (1996; own and Finnish songs in Swedish)
Songs Finland Sings (2002; double CD of Finnish poems and songs, classics and songs which she translated to English. Contains 30 artists, including the Serena choir)


== References ==