A purple transparent crystal of spodumene, or kunzite, was encountered in the Haapaluoma feldspar quarry, western Finland. The crystal, which is about seven centimetres long, is embedded in purple, fine-scaled lepidolite. The kunzite has crystallized in a postmagmatic fracture filling of albite-quartz-spodumene-lepidolite- red tourmaline crossing the main pegmatite dyke. Spodumene is a common mineral in certain pegmatites, but this is the first report of kunzite, a gem quality spodumene, in Finland. The wet chemical analysis of the Haapaluoma kunzite shows (wt%): SiO2 63.85, TiO2 0.01 , Al2O3 27.72, MnO 0.16, Fe2O3 tot. 0.16, MgO 0.05, ZnO 0.01, Tl2O 0.0, CaO 0.07, BeO 0.00, Na2O 0.59, K2O 0.13, Li2O 7.49, Rb2O 0.00, Cs2O 0.00, P2O5 0.00, H2O+ 0.08, H2O- 0.02, total 100.34. The trace elements determined with an optical emission spectrograph are as follows (ppm): Cr 510, Ga330, Sn 120, Sc 26, Ge 19, Sr <30, Co <20, Cu <15, Ni <15 and V <15. The unit cell formula computed on the basis of six oxygens (Z = 4) is as follows: Li0.94Na0.04Al1.02Si1.99O6. The mineral is strongly pleochroic with X = Y = amethystine purple and Z = weak purplish or colourless. The optical properties are a = 1.660, ß = 1.665, γ = 1.679, +2Vmeas. = 61° and +2Vcalc. = 62°. The mineral shows weak pale orange fluorescence under long and short wave UV light. The measured specific gravity (3.19) is identical to the calculated density within the limits of measuring accuracy. The unit cell is monoclinic with the space group C2/c and a = 9.469 Å, b = 8.399 Å, c = 5.225 Å, ß = 110.16° and V = 390.04 Å3. The composition of kunzite and a grey spodumene from the Na-stage assemblage of the same quarry are nearly identical. The content of iron and lithium is, however, lower in kunzite and the content of sodium is higher. The colour of the mineral may be due to the presence of relatively high concentrations of Mn3+ and a low Fe/Mn ratio (1.0). The chemical composition and physical properties of the Haapaluoma kunzite resembles closely to those reported in the literature for similar spodumene varieties.