Urho Vilpitön Konstantin Toivola (until 1906 Kröger; 17 October 1890 – 11 September 1960) was a Finnish journalist,

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

and a diplomat. He represented

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

, so-called Jacobinism in the National Progressive Party.

Early life

Toivola was born 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 ...

. His parents were Reverend David Konstantin Kröger and Anni Koponen. He graduated from secondary school in 1909 and graduated with a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1914.

Career

Journalist

Toivola worked as a journalist for ''Pohjanlahti'' magazine in Rauma and the ''

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 ...

'' newspaper in 1915. Toivola became Editor-in-Chief for ''

Turun Sanomat ''Turun Sanomat'' is the leading regional newspaper of the region of Southwest Finland. It is published in the region's capital, Turku and the third most widely read morning newspaper in Finland after '' Helsingin Sanomat'' and ''Aamulehti''. Hi ...

'' from 1925 to 1937, in the ''Elanto'' newspaper from 1937 to 1938 and also in ''Le Nord'' magazine in 1938. In 1930, as a member of a delegation of European journalists which also included Felix Salten, invited by the

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) is a nonpartisan international affairs think tank headquartered in Washington D.C. with operations in Europe, South and East Asia, and the Middle East as well as the United States. Founded in ...

, he visited the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and wrote a book on his journey, ''Aurinkoista Amerikkaa''.

Politician

After holding positions such as party secretary in the

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 ...

, official in the National Food Authority and secretary both in the consumers' co-operative of Elanto and in the National Progressive Party, In the early 1920s, Toivola served as Secretary at the Finnish Embassy in London from 1921 to 1922, and in the Finnish Embassy in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and as Finland's Representative at the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

from 1922 to 1925 and was Secretary of the Finnish Delegation to the

General Assembly A general assembly or general meeting is a meeting of all the members of an organization or shareholders of a company. Specific examples of general assembly include: Churches * General Assembly (presbyterian church), the highest court of presby ...

in the League of Nations from 1922 to 1924. After joining the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Toivola was the Head of the Ministry's newspaper Department from 1938 to 1939, and Head of the Information Center in the Council of State in 1939 and Chargé d'Affaires of Finland to

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

in 1940 and during the Continuation War as Counselor in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

from 1941 to 1944. After the war, Toivola served as Finnish Envoy to Ottawa from 1948 to 1952, and in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

, and in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 1953 to 1957. Toivola was Member of Parliament from 1933 to 1936 from the southern constituency of the Turku County. He was

elector Elector may refer to: * Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors * Elector, a member of an electoral college ** Confederate elector, a member of ...

in several

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

and

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *January ...

. He was a member in the City Council of

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 was a member of the

's Central Committee and later member in the National Progressive Party's subcommittee.

Personal life

Toivola married Lyyli Elisabeth (Rakel) Kansanen from 1913 to 1949. Ambassador Joel Toivola was their son. As a widower, Urho Toivola married a second time in 1951 to Rachel Ilona Kansanen who had a Bachelor of Philosophy degree. He died in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

, aged 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toivola, Urho 1890 births 1960 deaths People from Heinola People from Mikkeli Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Young Finnish Party politicians National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1933–1936) 20th-century Finnish diplomats 20th-century Finnish journalists Grand Officers of the Order of the White Lion