Adolf Erik Ehrnrooth (9 February 1905 – 26 February 2004) was a Finnish

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

who served during the

Winter Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...

and

Continuation In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computati ...

wars. He also competed in two equestrian events at the

1948 Summer Olympics The 1948 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XIV Olympiad and also known as London 1948) were an international multi-sport event held from 29 July to 14 August 1948 in London, England, United Kingdom. Following a twelve-year hiatus ca ...

Early life

Born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

, Ehrnrooth first went to

Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors Svenska normallyceum i Helsingfors (Norsen) was a Swedish school in the Kaartinkaupunki district of Helsinki between 1864 and 1977. The school was only for boys until 1974 when it became a co-educational school. History Svenska normallyceum was e ...

and then entered cadet school in 1922 and served in the Uusimaa Dragoon Regiment (''Uudenmaan Rakuunarykmentti''). In 1958 he married a Danish countess Karin-Birgitte Schack who was a lady-in-waiting and a close friend of Queen Ingrid of Denmark. They had three children: Karin, Hans and Eva.

Military career

During the brief

Winter War The Winter War,, sv, Vinterkriget, rus, Зи́мняя война́, r=Zimnyaya voyna. The names Soviet–Finnish War 1939–1940 (russian: link=no, Сове́тско-финская война́ 1939–1940) and Soviet–Finland War 1 ...

against the

Soviet Union 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, ...

, he served on the staffs of the 7th Division and the Cavalry Brigade. When the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

, also against the Soviet Union, broke out in June 1941, he served as the chief of staff of the 2nd Division until he was seriously wounded. After he recovered he was appointed to lead the 7th Infantry regiment (JR 7) of the 2nd Division. During the battles on the

Karelian Isthmus The Karelian Isthmus (russian: Карельский перешеек, Karelsky peresheyek; fi, Karjalankannas; sv, Karelska näset) is the approximately stretch of land, situated between the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga in northwestern ...

, he was awarded the

Mannerheim cross The Mannerheim Cross ( fi, Mannerheim-risti, sv, Mannerheimkorset), officially Mannerheim Cross of the Cross of Liberty ( fi, Vapaudenristin Mannerheim-risti, link=no, sv, Frihetskorsets Mannerheimkors, link=no) is the most distinguished Finnis ...

. He also received the Grand Cross of the Royal Swedish

Order of the Sword The Royal Order of the Sword (officially: ''Royal Order of the Sword''; Swedish: ''Kungliga Svärdsorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry and military decoration created by King Frederick I of Sweden on February 23, 1748, together with the ...

. After the war, he led an active military career until he retired in 1965. Historiajr7

Later life

Adolf Ehrnrooth was the face and voice most associated with rehabilitation of the soldiers who secured Finland her independence. The long post-war era during which it simply was not progressive to value the military ended in the early 1990s, at which time his charismatic persona was at its height. Voice impressionists have found his idiosyncratically emphasized speech patterns and overheavily guttural snarls a rich ground to harvest. For them he is one of the indispensable voices. Ehrnrooth grave helsinki

In his last statement he gave support to ProKarelia (Finnish NGO) and its plan for the Return of Ceded Territories. He said that he defended the borders of Finland declared in the Treaty of Tartu and considered them the only proper borders of Finland and that it was great injustice that the Soviet Union had taken these territories. General Ehrnrooth died on 26 February 2004, and is buried in Hietaniemi cemetery, Helsinki. He was voted as the 4th greatest Finn of all time by the Finnish public during the

Suuret suomalaiset ''Suuret suomalaiset'' (''Great Finns'') was a 2004 television show broadcast in Finland by Yle (the Finnish Broadcasting Company), which determined the ''100 greatest Finns of all time'' according to the opinions of its viewers. The viewers were ...

(Great Finns) competition in 2004.

References

Bibliography

* Karin Ehrnrooth: Isäni oli nuori sotilas / Min fader var en ung soldat – Adolf Ehrnrooth, Ajatus Kirjat 2008, * Adolf Ehrnrooth − Marja-Liisa Lehtonen: Kenraalin testamentti, WSOY 1995. * Ulla Appelsin: Adolf Ehrnrooth, Kenraalin vuosisata, Ajatus Kirjat 2001.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ehrnrooth, Adolf 1905 births 2004 deaths Military personnel from Helsinki Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish military personnel of World War II Finnish generals Knights of the Mannerheim Cross Continuation War Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class Finnish male equestrians Olympic equestrians of Finland Equestrians at the 1948 Summer Olympics