Urho Hietanen

Urho Hietanen is a fictional character in Väinö Linna's 1954 war novel The Unknown Soldier. He is one of the main characters in the novel.

Hietanen is considered to be inspired by Väinö Linna's comrade-in-arms, Sergeant Pauli Santa (1919–1982) from Vehmaa; however, Hietanen's fate is different from that of his role model, as Linna had freely combined and altered events in this regard, and some features may have also been taken from a couple of other people. The destruction of the Kliment Voroshilov tank with an anti-tank mine, which is described as the most heroic act by Hietanen, is also based on a true incident witnessed by Linna with his own eyes.