Olavi Virta

Born on February 27, 1915 in Sysmä, Finland.
Died on July 14, 1972 in Pispala (Tampere), Finland.

Born Oskari Olavi Ilmen, Olavi Virta was acclaimed as the king of Finnish tango. He changed his name to Virta in 1927. He used commonly Ola as an alias and several pseudonyms: Paul Ilmen, Pauli Ilmen, Matti Lehto, Oskari Joki, Oskari, Salvador Rio, Pauli Ström, Kaarto Vasa, Kaarto Virtanen, Ovan Erwin (together with Erkki Rahkola). Olavi virta recorded over 600 songs during his career.