Juho Eljas Erkko (1 June 1895 in

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 ...

– 20 February 1965 in Helsinki) was a

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 ...

politician and journalist. He was a

foreign minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

and negotiated with the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

before the

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

started. Erkko's father was politician and journalist

Eero Erkko Eero Erkko (18 May 1860, Orimattila - 14 October 1927) was a Finland, Finnish journalist and politician. He served as minister of social affairs from 27 November 1918 to 17 April 1919, minister of transport and public works from 17 April to 15 Au ...

and son journalist Aatos Erkko. Eljas Erkko graduated as

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1914,

Vimpeli Vimpeli (; sv, Vindala) is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the South Ostrobothnia region, northeast of Seinäjoki and northwest of Jyväskylä. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The p ...

School of War in 1918 and

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

in 1922. In 1918, he fought for the White Guards in the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper ''Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil W ...

Battle of Ruovesi The Battle of Ruovesi was a major battle during the Finnish Civil War and on the Eastern Front of World War I fought in Ruovesi, Finland from 5 February to 19 March 1918 between the Whites and the Reds with support from Russian volunteers. T ...

. He was elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

on 1 September 1933 from Uusimaa constituency. Erkko was a President's elector chosen by voters in the presidential election 1931, 1937, 1940 and 1943. Erkko-Johnson

Erkko was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

between 1938 and 1939, as the Finns negotiated with the Soviet Union. The Soviets demanded exchange of areas with Finland. Erkko did not want to make any concessions. As the

started,

Väinö Tanner Väinö Alfred Tanner (; 12 March 1881 – 19 April 1966; surname until 1895 ''Thomasson'') was a leading figure in the Social Democratic Party of Finland, and a pioneer and leader of the cooperative movement in Finland. He was Prime Minister ...

assigned a new government and decided to appoint himself as foreign minister. Between 1939 and 1940 he was a

chargé d'affaires A ''chargé d'affaires'' (), plural ''chargés d'affaires'', often shortened to ''chargé'' (French) and sometimes in colloquial English to ''charge-D'', is a diplomat who serves as an embassy's chief of mission in the absence of the ambassador ...

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 ...

. At the beginning of the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, Erkko was a head of

POW A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war ...

office in Finland till 1942. After the war, Erkko was charged in

court-martial A court-martial or court martial (plural ''courts-martial'' or ''courts martial'', as "martial" is a postpositive adjective) is a military court or a trial conducted in such a court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of memb ...

in 1946, the charges were dropped. Later years Erkko worked as

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

and Chairman of the Board of Directors of

Sanoma Sanoma Corporation (, formerly SanomaWSOY) is Finland's largest media group. The company has media business in Finland and a learning business in Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, Norway and Spain, among others. The company is headquarte ...

. He was also the Chairman of the Board of Directors in many Finnish companies, such as

Rautakirja Rautakirja Oy was a Finnish company operating subsidiary businesses such as R-kioski. Rautakirja Oy operates in Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Germany and Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontin ...

and

Suomen Tietotoimisto Finnish News Agency ( fi, Suomen Tietotoimisto, STT; sv, Finska Notisbyrån, FNB) is a Finnish news agency, established in 1887 and based in Helsinki. STT's majority owner is Sanoma Media Finland of the Sanoma Group. The Finnish public service br ...

, and a head of

supervisory board In corporate governance, a governance board also known as council of delegates are chosen by the stockholders of a company to promote their interests through the governance of the company and to hire and fire the board of directors. In civil s ...

Kansallis-Osake-Pankki Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) was a Finnish commercial bank operating from 1889 to 1995. It was created by the fennoman movement as a Finnish language alternative to the largely Swedish language bank, Suomen Yhdyspankki (''Swedish: Föreningsbank ...

. Erkko was also a head of government in the Finnish American Association.

References

External links

1895 births 1965 deaths Politicians from Helsinki People from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1933–36) People of the Finnish Civil War (White side) Winter War Finnish publishers (people) 20th-century Finnish journalists World War II political leaders {{finland-politician-stub