Axel Johan Lille (28 March 1848,

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

– 28 June 1921) was a Swedish-speaking

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

journalist and politician and the main founder of the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland ( sv, Svenska folkpartiet i Finland (SFP); fi, Suomen ruotsalainen kansanpuolue (RKP)) is a political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finlan ...

(''Svenska folkpartiet'', SFP) and its leader 1907–1917. Lille was the first who publicly proposed Finnish independence in his speech on April 9, 1902. Lille was member of the

Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 and the recipient of the powers of the Swedish Riksda ...

for the Estate of Burghers 1885–1900 and member of

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

from 1916 to 1917. He founder newspaper ''Vikingen'', refounded ''Nya Pressen'' and was its editor 1906–1914 and for its successor ''Dagens Press''. Lille was a

Social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

and wished to include more social reforms in SFP's program than eventually was included. In 1902, Lille moved to

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

, Sweden, and he received Swedish citizenship in 1903.

References

, - , - 1848 births 1921 deaths Politicians from Helsinki category:People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish People's Party of Finland politicians Members of the Diet of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1916–17) University of Helsinki alumni Finnish emigrants to Sweden {{Finland-politician-stub