The Senate of Finland ( fi, Suomen senaatti, sv, Senaten för Finland) combined the functions of

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and

supreme court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

in the

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 predecessor ...

from 1816 to 1917 and in the independent

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 B ...

from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was established on August 18, 1809, when

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...

Alexander I of Russia Alexander I (; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first King of Congress Poland from 1815, and the Grand Duke of Finland from 1809 to his death. He was the eldest son of Emperor Paul I and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. The son of ...

summoned the

Diet of Porvoo The Diet of Porvoo ( fi, Porvoon maapäivät, or unhistorically ; sv, Borgå lantdag; russian: Боргоский сейм), was the summoned legislative assembly to establish the Grand Duchy of Finland in 1809 and the heir of the powers of the ...

and directed the

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

to draw up regulations for a Government Council.Jutikkala, Eino and Pirinen, Kauko. ''A History of Finland''. Dorset Press, 1988 p. 162. In 1816, Alexander renamed this body the ''Senate'' to demonstrate that it was equal to rather than inferior to its Russian equivalent.Jutikkala, Eino and Pirinen, Kauko. ''A History of Finland''. Dorset Press, 1988 p. 163. The Senate was headed by the

Governor-General of Finland 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 sporadic ...

. The members of the Senate had to be Finnish citizens. The Senate was divided into the economic division and the judicial division. In 1822 both divisions were given a Finnish vice-chairman. From 1858 and onwards the members of the senate were formally known as ''senators.'' After the

February Revolution The February Revolution ( rus, Февра́льская револю́ция, r=Fevral'skaya revolyutsiya, p=fʲɪvˈralʲskəjə rʲɪvɐˈlʲutsɨjə), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and somet ...

in Russia the Vice Chairman of the Economic Division became the Chairman of the Senate. Due to the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

in 1918 the Senate was relocated to the town of

Vaasa Vaasa (; sv, Vasa, , Sweden ), in the years 1855–1917 as Nikolainkaupunki ( sv, Nikolajstad; literally meaning "city of Nicholas),

from January 29 to May 3. In 1918 the economic division became the

Cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

and the judicial division became the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

and the Supreme Administrative Court of the independent Finland. The vice chairman of the economic division became the

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...

, and the other senators became ministers. Finland became a republic in 1919.

Vice Chairman of the Economic Division (1822–1917)

Carl Erik Mannerheim Carl Erik Mannerheim (14 December 1759 – 15 January 1837) was a Swedish–Finnish soldier, statesman and member of the Senate of Finland as its first Vice Chairman of the Economic Division, an office corresponding to that of the modern ...

, (1822–1826) * (acting), (1826–1828) *

Anders Henrik Falck Anders Henrik Falck (25 November 1772 – 30 November 1851) was a Finnish politician. Falck was born in Kerimäki. He was a Vice-chairman the economic division of the Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland ( fi, Suomen senaatti, sv, Senate ...

, (1828–1833) *, (1833–1841) *

Lars Gabriel von Haartman Lars Gabriel von Haartman (23 September 1789 Turku - 16 December 1859 Merimasku) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish politician. Along with Count Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, he was one of the most prominent politicians who were in favour of developing Fi ...

, (1841–1858) *, (1858–1882) *, (1882–1885) *, (1885–1891) *, (1891–1900) *, (1900–1905) *, (1905) *

Leopold Henrik Stanislaus Mechelin Leopold (Leo) Henrik Stanislaus Mechelin (24 November 1839 in Hamina, Finland – 26 January 1914 in Helsinki, Finland) was a Finnish politician, professor, liberal reformer and businessman. A leading defender of the autonomy of the Grand Duchy ...

, (1905–1908) *

Edvard Immanuel Hjelt Edvard Immanuel Hjelt (28 June 1855 – 2 July 1921) was a Finnish chemist, politician and a member of the Senate of Finland. Hjelt studied chemistry in Finland and in Germany and became rector of the University of Helsinki in 1899. He opposed ...

, (1908–1909) *

August Johannes Hjelt August Hjelt (29 June 1862 in Tuusula – 12 July 1919 in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Senate of Finland. He belonged to the conservative Finnish Party. He was a member of the Diet of Finland in 1897 and from ...

, (1909) *

Anders Wirenius Anders Wirenius (29 April 1850, Saint Petersburg - 29 August 1919) 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 * F ...

, (1909) *

Vladimir Ivanovich Markov Vladimir Ivanovitch Markoff ''(Markov)'' (26 July 1859 Hamina – August 1919 Saint Petersburg) was a Finnish Lieutenant General who was also the vice-chairman of the economic division (Prime minister) of the Senate of Finland from 1909 to 1913 a ...

, (1909–1913) *

Mikhail Borovitinov Mikhail Borovitinov (russian: Михаил Михайлович Боровитинов, 2 August 1874 in Saint Petersburg, Russia – died unknown) was a Russian lawyer and leader of the Russian Imperial Finnish Senate (Prime Minister of Finland) ...

, (1913–1917) *

(acting), (1917)

Chairmen of the Senate (1917–1918)

Antti Oskari Tokoi Antti Oskari Tokoi (15 April 1873 – 4 April 1963) was a Finnish socialist who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. In 1917 Tokoi acted as a Chairman of the Senate of Finland and thus he was the world’s first social de ...

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(1917) *

Eemil Nestor Setälä Eemil Nestor Setälä (; 27 February 1864 – 8 February 1935) was a Finnish politician and once the Chairman of the Senate of Finland, from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence. Se ...

Young Finnish Party The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( fi, Nuorsuomalainen Puolue or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a ...

(1917) *

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 ...

, Young Finnish Party (1917–1918) *

Juho Kusti Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (; 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was the seventh president of Finland (1946–1956). Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Ministe ...

Finnish Party The Finnish Party ( fi, Suomalainen Puolue) was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position ...

(1918)

References

{{Reflist Political history of Finland 1816 establishments in Finland Grand Duchy of Finland ' 1918 disestablishments in Finland ru:Сенат Финляндии#Императорский финляндский сенат

Vice Chairman of the Economic Division (1822–1917)

Chairmen of the Senate (1917–1918)

See also

References