Inkeri Lehtinen (1908–1997) was a Finnish communist politician. She served as the education minister of the

Terijoki government The Finnish Democratic Republic ( fi, Suomen kansanvaltainen tasavalta or ''Suomen kansantasavalta'', sv, Demokratiska Republiken Finland, Russian: ''Финляндская Демократическая Республика''), also known as ...

during the Finnish Democratic Republic. She was among the significant Finnish women politicians during the post-World War II period.

Biography

Lehtinen was born in Helsinki on 7 March 1908. Her parents were the supporters of the Marxist–Leninist ideology. Between 1925 and 1945 she held different posts in 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 ...

and Finland. She was a member of the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP; sv, Finlands Kommunistiska Parti) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by ...

being one of its leaders in the period 1939–1969. In the late 1930s she was among the contributors of a magazine entitled ''Soihtu'' published by a group of young left-wing figures who were removed from the Party in 1937. This group was headed by Mauri Ryömä. In her writings Lehtinen criticized Ryömä due to his closeness to the Finnish government. From December 1939 to March 1940 she was the minister of education in the Terijoki Government during 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 ...

. She was elected as a member of the political bureau of the Communist Party's central committee in April 1963. Lehtinen died in Helsinki on 1 March 1997 after a long illness.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lehtinen, Inkeri 20th-century Finnish women politicians 1908 births 1997 deaths Communist Party of Finland politicians Women government ministers of Finland People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) Politicians from Helsinki Ministers of Education of Finland