Taistoism ( fi, taistolaisuus) was an orthodox pro-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

tendency in the mostly Eurocommunist Finnish

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

movement in the 1970s and 1980s. The Taistoists were an interior opposition group in 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 ...

. They were named after their leader

Taisto Sinisalo Taisto Jalo Sinisalo (29 June 1926 – 26 March 2002) was a Finnish communist politician, MP of the SKDL (1962–1978), leader of the Communist Party of Finland’s hardline pro-Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet S ...

whose first name means "a battle", "a fight" or "a struggle". Sinisalo's supporters constituted a party within a party, but pressure from the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

prevented the party from formally splitting. The term ''taistolaisuus'' was a derogatory nickname invented by

Helsingin Sanomat ''Helsingin Sanomat'', abbreviated ''HS'' and colloquially known as , is the largest subscription newspaper in Finland and the Nordic countries, owned by Sanoma. Except after certain holidays, it is published daily. Its name derives from that of ...

and was never used by the group themselves. Although they were sometimes identified as "

Stalinists Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...

", this was not a central part of their orthodoxy. The opposition was expelled from the party 1985–1986 and it formed the

Communist Party of Finland (Unity) The Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, SKP sv, Finlands kommunistiska parti, FKP) or New Communist Party of Finland ( fi, Uusi Suomen Kommunistinen Puolue, USKP sv, Finlands nya kommunistiska parti, FNKP) is a political ...

, which took the name "Communist Party of Finland" after the original party's bankruptcy in 1992. Some of the former Taistoists later joined the Left Alliance or have since abandoned Communism altogether.

Notable former Taistoists

Members of Parliament

Markus Kainulainen Markus Kainulainen (9 August 1922, Helsinki – 30 August 2017) was a Finnish communist politician. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) and served as a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 1975 to ...

(1975–1979) * Lauri Kantola (1962–1975) * Mikko Kuoppa (1979–1987, 1995–2011) * Ensio Laine (1968–1995) * Pentti Liedes (1954–1966, 1970–1983, 1983–1985) * Marja-Liisa Löyttyjärvi (1979–1991) * Pauli Puhakka (1954–1983) *

Irma Rosnell Irma Maria Rosnell (20 February 1927 – 19 February 2022) was a Finnish politician. A member of the Finnish People's Democratic League, she served in the Parliament of Finland from 1954 to 1987. She died in Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori ...

(1954–1987) *

(1962–1979) * Marjatta Stenius-Kaukonen (1975–1994, 1999–2003) * Oili Suomi (1970–1972, 1977–1979) * Sten Söderström (1979–1987) *

Esko-Juhani Tennilä Esko-Juhani Tennilä (born 10 October 1947) is Finnish leftist politician from Lapland and member of Parliament since 1975 until 2011. Tennilä was born in Rovaniemi and has studied in University of Tampere and worked as reporter for Hämeen Yht ...

(1975–2011) *

Seppo Toiviainen Seppo Esko Tapani Toiviainen (6 October 1944, in Kankaanpää – 28 June 2005) was a Finnish social psychologist and politician. He was a Member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) from 1979 to ...

(1979–1987) *

Mirjam Tuominen Mirjam is a Dutch, Estonian, Finnish and German feminine given name cognate to Miriam. Notable people with the name include: * Mirjam Bikker (born 1982), Dutch politician * Mirjam van Breeschooten (born 1970), Dutch model * Mirjam Gysling (born ...

(1970–1979) *

Pentti Tiusanen Pentti Uolevi Tiusanen (6 March 1949, Kotka – 8 December 2018) was a Finnish politician and member of Finnish Parliament, representing the Left Alliance. He was elected to Finnish Parliament in the 1995 election. As his civil profession, Tiusa ...

(1995–2011) *

Pirkko Turpeinen Pirkko Marjatta Turpeinen (born 7 November 1940 in Helsinki) is a Finnish psychiatrist and politician. She was a Member of the Parliament of Finland, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) from 1983 to 1986 and the Democratic ...

(1983–1987) *

Rainer Virtanen Rainer may refer to: People * Rainer (surname) * Rainer (given name) Other * Rainer Island, an island in Franz Josef Land, Russia * 16802 Rainer, an asteroid * Rainer Foundation, British charitable organisation See also * Rainier (disambiguation ...

(1954–1972)

Cultural movement

* Kaj Chydenius *

Kristiina Halkola Kristiina is an Estonian and Finnish feminine given name. It is a cognate of the English and French given name Christine. Tiina is often used as a diminutive of Kristiina. People named Kristiina include: * Kristiina Brask (born 1990), Finnish pop ...

Heikki Kinnunen Heikki Kinnunen (born 8 April 1946, in Raahe) is a Finnish actor, who became well known in the beginning of the 1970s in the comedy program '' Ällitälli''. Kinnunen was known specially for his roles in comedy films and -series. He has played th ...

Kaisa Korhonen Kaisa Korhonen (born 20 July 1941) is a Finnish singer, actor, theatre director and writer. She was a central figure in the Finnish leftist music scene of the 60s and 70s, appearing both as a solo artist, and with KOM-teatteri. After her singing c ...

* Marja-Leena Mikkola * Aulikki Oksanen *

Pirkko Saisio Pirkko Helena Saisio (born 16 April 1949) is a Finnish author, actress and director. She has also written under the pen names Jukka Larsson and Eva Wein. Saisio has a broad literary output, dealing with many kinds of texts from film screenplays ...

Socialist student movement

* Yrjö Hakanen, chairman * Satu Hassi, member

Journalists

* Urho Jokinen, Tiedonantaja newspaper main editor 1969–1984 *

Jaakko Laakso Jaakko Tapani Laakso (born 20 May 1948 in Turku) is a Finnish leftwing politician and member of Parliament between 1991 and 2011, representing Left Alliance. He is a former member of the Communist Party of Finland. Laakso graduated from Univers ...

, Tiedonantaja main editor toimittaja 1976–1991 * Leif Salmén * Erkki Susi, Tiedonantaja editor 1971–1984, main editor a 1984– * Esko-Juhani Tennilä *

Nils Torvalds Nils Ole Hilmer Torvalds (born 7 August 1945) is a Finnish politician who has been a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) since 2012. He is a member of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for ...

, Arbetartidningen Enhet editor

Other

* Ilkka Kylävaara * Johannes Pakaslahti * Veikko Porkkala * Rauno Setälä *

Björn Wahlroos Björn Arne Christer Wahlroos (born 10 October 1952 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Swedish-speaking Finn, best known as a banker, investor and the chairman of the Board in Sampo Group and UPM-Kymmene. Before switching to banking Wahlroos worked as a ...

, CEO of

Sampo Group Sampo Group is a significant Nordic insurance group made up of the parent company Sampo plc, P&C Insurance Holding Ltd, Mandatum Holding Ltd, Danish insurer Topdanmark and British P&C insurer Hastings, all of which are its subsidiaries. The pare ...