The governor-general of Finland ( fi, Suomen kenraalikuvernööri; sv, generalguvernör över Finland; russian: генерал-губернатор Финляндии) was the military commander and the highest administrator of Finland sporadically
under Swedish rule in the 17th and 18th centuries and continuously in the autonomous
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
between 1809 and 1917.
Swedish realm
After the final abolition of the
Duchy of Finland and related feudal privileges in the late 16th century, the
king of Sweden
The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument ...
sporadically granted most or all of Finland under a specially appointed governor-general, who took care of the matters in the eastern part of the country more or less according to his own best judgement. Best known of these officials is count
Per Brahe whose reign is still referred to in Finland as the "count's days" (''kreivin aikaan''), meaning something positive that happens just in time.
List of Swedish governors-general of Finland
Translation in
Grand Duchy of Finland
During the time when Finland was a part of the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...
, the governor-general's position was permanent. He was viceroy of the emperor, who was not personally present in
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...
, but resided in
St Petersburg, just outside Finnish borders. The governor-general was constitutionally the chairman of the
Senate of Finland, the government in the autonomous grand duchy. The chairmanship he represented, with two votes in the Senate, belonged to the
grand duke of Finland, a title held by the
emperor of Russia. The governor-general was the highest representative of the emperor and received his instructions directly from the imperial government in Saint Petersburg.
Finnish citizenship was not required of the governor-general, contrary to all other highest positions such as senators and the
minister-secretary of state. Most governors-general were Russians, men whom the emperor trusted as counterparts of potential Finnish separatism. Many of them, up to Baron , however were also made
Finnish subject
Citizenship of Finland can be obtained on the basis of birth, marriage of parents, adoption, or the place of birth. In addition, it may be acquired by application or by declaration to authorities. Finnish citizenship acquisition is based prima ...
s, by granting them a
Finnish nobility
The Finnish nobility ( fi, Aateli; sv, Adel) was historically a privileged class in Finland, deriving from its period as part of Sweden and the Russian Empire. Noble families and their descendants are still a part of Finnish republican society, bu ...
rank.
Many of the governors-general were disliked by the Finnish population. The first man on the post,
Georg Magnus Sprengtporten
Count Georg Magnus Sprengtporten (russian: Егор Максимович Шпренгпортен, translit=Egor Maksimovič Šprengporten, ; sv, Göran Magnus Sprengtporten; fi, Yrjö Maunu Sprengtporten, ; 16 December 1740 – 13 October 1819) ...
, resigned after only a year. Another,
Nikolai Bobrikov, was
assassinated in 1904 by the Finnish nationalist
Eugen Schauman
Eugen Waldemar Schauman (russian: Евгений Владимирович Шауман, ''Evgeny Vladimirovich Shauman''); ( – ) was a Swedish speaking Finnish nationalist and nobleman. Schauman assassinated the Imperial Russian Governor-Gene ...
. On the other hand, several governors-general worked in a way that guaranteed the Finnish autonomy in face of the interests of ministers of the imperial court.
The governor-general between 1831 and 1855,
Prince Menshikov
Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora ...
, sojourned his entire term in St Petersburg, being simultaneously the
Russian minister of navy. Gubernatorial duties in Helsinki were cared for by the deputy governor-general. For most of the term, in that position was general .
List of Russian governors-general of Finland
Translation in
See also
*
Grand Duke of Finland
*
Duke of Finland Duke of Finland (in Finnish ''Suomen herttua''; Swedish ''hertig av Finland'') was an occasional medieval title granted as a tertiogeniture to the relatives of the King of Sweden between the 13th and 16th centuries. It included a duchy along with ...
*
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 Ri ...
*
Governor-General in the Swedish Realm
A Governor-General ( sv, generalguvernör) was appointed by the Swedish monarch as his permanent representative, with both civil and military jurisdiction, over parts of Sweden, from the 17th century to the early 19th century, when constitutional ...
*
Monarchy of Finland
*
Finnish Minister Secretary of State
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 ...
*
List of Finnish rulers
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Governor-General Of Finland
Political history of Finland
Gubernatorial titles
Governor-General
1595 establishments in Europe
16th-century establishments in Finland