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The award was presented by Hungarian ambassador to Finland Kristóf Forrai in Helsinki on Thursday.
Launonen, who studied Hungarian at university in Helsinki, has translated Hungarian literature and published papers on the subject for more than 30 years. He has also taught Hungarian literature as well as translation.
In 2000, an anthology of Hungarian poetry translated by Launonen was published. It contained work by József Tornay, Ottó Orbán, Gáspár Nagy, Erzsébet Tóth and Géza Szőcs. Among the other poets he has translated are Attila József, Sándor Csoóri, Sándor Kányádi, László Nagy, Miklós Radnóti and Zsuzsa Rakovszky.
Launonen has so far translated 20 volumes of poetry and prose. He was assisted by Béla the Hungarian translator Béla Jávorszky for about half of the books.
Recently published translations by Launonen include Gyula Krúdy?s The Red Mail Coach and Other Noveallas as well as Péter Eszterházy?s She Loves Me.
