Eino Rudolf Woldemar Holsti (8 October 1881 in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

– 3 August 1945 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

) 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 * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician, journalist and diplomat. He was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between co ...

in 1919–1922 and in 1936–1938 and a member of the Finnish Parliament in 1913–1918 representing the Young Finnish Party (''Nuorsuomalainen Puolue'').

Biography

From 1919 he represented the National Progressive Party. Holsti represented Finland in 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 ...

. He was also a republican (opposing the then ongoing movement for monarchy in Finland). A firm supporter of democracy, he openly criticized

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

at the outbreak of war. Holsti worked for newspapers in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

and Helsinki together with his friend and school companion Joel Lehtonen. The friendship ended abruptly when Holsti recognized himself as the satirically portrayed and fictive politician Rolf Idell in Lehtonen's book ''Sorron lapset'' (1924). Holsti was also Envoy to

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

from 1923 to 1927. Later in life, Holsti taught at Stanford University, after he moved to

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 territori ...

with his two sons: Kalevi and Olavi Holsti (both respected political scientists in their own right). He maintained a healthy correspondence with president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

, and the prime minister and president of Finland. He died on August 3, 1945 at Palo Alto Hospital while undergoing surgery to repair a hernia. His wife Liisa died of tuberculosis on July 22, 1951.

Honorary degrees

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then calle ...

, Philadelphia, USA (PhD. h.c) in 1938Rudolf Holsti at the Parliament of Finland Archive
/ref>

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Pietiäinen, Jukka-Pekka; Rudolf Holsti, Lehtimies, tiedemies, poliitikko 1881- 1919, Weilin+Göös 1986 .

External links

* 1881 births 1945 deaths People from Jyväskylä People from Vaasa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Young Finnish Party politicians National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians Finnish senators category:Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1913–16) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1916–17) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1917–19) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1922–24) Permanent Representatives of Finland to the League of Nations University of Helsinki alumni category:Stanford University faculty Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Finnish expatriates in the United States {{Finland-politician-stub