Per Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (May 13, 1804 - September 30, 1866) was a Finnish provincial

treasurer A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance. Government The treasury ...

of Tavastia and the host of the Rapola Manor in

Sääksmäki Sääksmäki is a village and a former municipality, currently part of Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region of Western Finland. A past president of Finland, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, the Finnish film producer and director Veikko Aaltonen, eminent Fin ...

. His grandson was

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (; 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major role in the ...

, the future third President of the

Republic of Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

.Svinhufvud – Vapaussota
(in Finnish)PEHR EVIND SVINHUFVUD (1861—1944), 1ST REGENT OF FINLAND (1918), 3RD PRESIDENT OF FINLAND (1931—1937)
/ref> Svinhufvud was born in Sääksmäki and his parents were Lieutenant Pehr Johansson Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (1772–1846) and Sara Juliana Teetgren (1776–1828). From a young age, Svinhufvud studied law in

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and from 1830 worked as an official of Kymmenegård, then of the Mikkeli Provincial Government, from 1838 first as a provincial chamber in

Heinola Heinola () is a town and a municipality of inhabitants () located in the eastern part of the Päijänne Tavastia region, Finland, near the borders of the South Savonia region and the Kymenlaakso region. It is the third largest municipality in ...

, then in

Mikkeli Mikkeli (; sv, S:t Michel; la, Michaelia) is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located in what used to be the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Etelä-Savo region. The municipality has a population of () (around 34, ...

, but also cultivated his home in Rapola's stone

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Alle ...

. Svinhufvud married 20-year-old Ulrika Charlotta Fredrika von Kraemer (1813–1852) in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of ...

on June 28, 1833. His son Per Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad II (1836–1863), the father of Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, chose a career as a

sailor A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and traveled as a

sea captain A sea captain, ship's captain, captain, master, or shipmaster, is a high-grade licensed mariner who holds ultimate command and responsibility of a merchant vessel.Aragon and Messner, 2001, p.3. The captain is responsible for the safe and effici ...

all the way to

East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magad ...

and

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

. He was drowned in a shipwreck in the Greek archipelago in 1863 at the age of 27, when his son Pehr Evind was only 2 years old.Haggrén 2001: p. 62–63.(in Finnish) Grandfather Svinhufvud took care of his grandchildren while maintaining the farm of Rapola. However, the manor with its premises was eventually heavily indebted, and before Rapola was forced into

auction An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition e ...

, the depressed Svinhufvud committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and ...

by shooting himself in 1866 when his grandson Pehr Evind was only 4 years old.Svinhufvud, Pehr Evind (1861 - 1944) – Kansallisbiografia
(in Finnish)

References

1804 births 1866 deaths Finnish people of Swedish descent Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish civil servants Treasurers People from Valkeakoski People from Mikkeli Suicides by firearm in Finland 1860s suicides {{Finland-bio-stub

See also

References