Väinö Edward Tiiri (31 January 1886 – 30 July 1966) was a Finnish gymnast who won two Olympic medals.

Sport

Olympics

He was in the Finnish team leadership in the

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20– 30 – Kuomintang in China hol ...

and 1928 games. He was a judge at the

gymnastics at the 1928 Summer Olympics At the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, eight events in gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements invo ...

Other

He won the Finnish national championship in team gymnastics as a member of Ylioppilasvoimistelijat in 1909. He was the chairman of the boys' chapter of the Finnish Gymnastics and Sports Federation in 1924–1926. He was a founding member of the fencing club Helsingin Miekkailijat. He was the leader of the '' Suomen Urheilulehti'' editorial staff in 1909–1917. He edited sports-related articles in the encyclopedia ''

Pieni tietosanakirja ''Pieni tietosanakirja'' ("The Small Encyclopedia") (1925-1928), published by Otava in four volumes, was the second Finnish-language encyclopedia. It followed the earlier, eleven-volume '' Tietosanakirja''. Being published more than 70 years ag ...

''. He held positions of trust in several national-level sports federations.

Career

He completed his matriculation exam in Turku Finnish Real Lycaeum in 1907 and graduated as a gymnastics teacher in 1911. He worked as a gymnastics teacher up to 1952. He completed Artillery Officer School in 1918 and eventually reached the rank of major in 1928. He was the physical education officer of the Finnish Defence Forces for over ten years. He served as a battalion commander in the World War II. He was an editor in ''

Uusi Suomi ''Uusi Suomi'' (Finnish for ''The New Finland'') was a Finnish daily newspaper that was published from 1919 to 1991. The headquarters was in Helsinki, Finland. History and profile ''Uusi Suomi'' was established in 1919 as a continuation of two ...

'' and '' Suomen Sotilas''.

Politics

He was one of the members of the central committee responsible of the creation of the Jäger Movement. He was nominated an honorary jäger in 1961.

Accolades

He received the following honorary awards: * Cross of Liberty, 3rd Class * Cross of Liberty, 4th Class * Knight (Chevalier) of the White Rose of Finland * The Jaeger Activist Medal * memorial medals of three wars

Family

His parents were Kalle and Maria Tiiri. He married Helmi Koski in 1921. His only child was named Juhana.

Sources

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiiri, Vaino 1886 births 1966 deaths Finnish male artistic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1908 Summer Olympics Gymnasts at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for Finland Olympic silver medalists for Finland Olympic bronze medalists for Finland Olympic medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1912 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics People from Loimaa 20th-century Finnish people