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Born into theFinland-SwedishDonner family of German descent, Jörn Donner was the son of the linguistKai Reinhold Donner and Margareta von Bonsdorff[2], and the grandson of linguist and politicianOtto Donner.[3] After graduating from the Svenska normallyceum in 1951, he earned a Master of Arts degree from the University of Helsinki in 1959.[2]
Donner began his career in journalism and criticism in the 1950s. He was the publisher of the magazineArena (1951–1954), an editor forNy Tid (1952–1953), and worked as a literary or film critic for numerous publications, includingVapaa Sana (1952–1955),Päivän Sanomat (1957–1958),Nya Pressen (1951–1959),Bonniers Litterära Magasin (1959–1962),Ylioppilaslehti (1961–1963),Hufvudstadsbladet (1952–1962), and Sweden'sDagens Nyheter (1960–1965). He was also a columnist forHufvudstadsbladet starting in 1980.[2]
He lived and worked for long periods in Sweden, initially as a film director forSandrews from 1963 to 1966[2], and later at theSwedish Film Institute, where he served as executive director (1972–1975), film producer (1975–1978), and managing director (1978–1982).[2] He was also the managing director of his own company, Jörn Donner Productions, from 1966.[2] In 1979, he was a member of the jury at the29th Berlin International Film Festival.[4] From 1981 to 1983, he was the chairman of the Finnish Film Foundation.[2] Internationally Jörn Donner was best known as the producer of Ingmar Bergman's filmFanny and Alexander (Fanny och Alexander, 1982). In 1984 the movie won a total of fourAcademy Awards including the award forbest foreign language film,[5] making him to date the only Finn to receive an Oscar. His novelFar och son (Father and Son) won theFinlandia Prize in 1985. His earlier literary work was recognized with the State Prize for Literature in 1972 and the Society of Swedish Literature in Finland Prize in 1972, 1975, and 1981[2].
Donner was associated with several different political parties, such asSDP andRKP, and was at different times a member both of the Finnish parliament and the European Parliament. He was chairman of the leftist artists' association Kiila from 1957 to 1958 and served on the Helsinki city council in 1969–1972 and again from 1984.[2] As of 2007[update] he was again a member of the Finnish parliament for a short while, afterEva Biaudet resigned to take a position at theOSCE.
Donner suffered fromprostate andlung cancers.[6] He died of lung disease atMeilahti hospital in Helsinki on 30 January 2020, six days before his 87th birthday.[7][8] After his death, an archive of thousands of photographs was discovered at his home, showing that Donner was also a skilled photographer.[9] In 2023, Donner's widow revealed that she had thrown his ashes in thecompost after discovering his history ofinfidelity.[10]
