Kaarlo (Kaarle) Eeronpoika Korhonen (russian: Карл Эрикович Корхонен, translit=Karl Erikovic Korxonen; 27 December 187811 February 1938) was a Finnish farmer, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Oulu Province South between April 1917 and September 1918. Korhonen went to Soviet Russia during the Finnish Civil War and was executed there in 1938 during Stalin's Great Purge.

Early life

Korhonen was born on 27 December 1878 in Veneheitto in Säräisniemi municipality in central Grand Duchy of Finland. After attending public school, he worked as a wheelwright and a labourer. He was a farmer in Säräisniemi.

Politics and civil war

Korhonen joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1902 and was chairman of the party's local branch. He was elected to the Parliament of Finland at the 1916 parliamentary election. He was re-elected at the 1917 parliamentary election. During the Finnish Civil War Korhonen was sent to

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

as part of a people's delegation. After the Reds were defeated Korhonen remained in Soviet Russia.

Exile and death

Korhonen was chairman of the Airo commune in Kostroma in the Volga region. He was sent to

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for ...

in June 1920 where he worked as a raftsman on the Sunu river, as a railway guard in

Kemi Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...

and in the land affairs department of the Uhtua District (Kalevalsky District) administration. He was a manager of financial affairs at a youth school (1923-1930), a director of the financial department of the Uhtua state farm (1930-1933), school director (1932-1936) and a worker of the Municipal Department of the Uhtua District Executive Committee (1936). Korhonen was a member of the Russian Communist Party (Bolsheviks) from 1918 to 1936. With the onset of Stalin's Great Purge, Korhonen was expelled from the party on 26 November 1935 by the Kalevala district committee. He was imprisoned on 30 November 1937 for counter-revolutionary activities and on 21 January 1938 sentenced to death by shooting. He was executed on 11 February 1938 in the foothills of Karhumäki (Medvezhyegorsk). He was posthumously rehabilitated in September 1988.

Personal life

Korhonen was married to Hilma (Hilda) and had an

adopted Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

daughter, Silvia Thorstensson. Later he married Soviet citizen Anna and lived in Uhtua (Kalevala) in Russian Karelia. They had a son, Taisto.

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