The Embassy of the Republic of Finland in Moscow is the chief

diplomatic mission A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually denotes ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

in the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. It is located at 15-17 Kropotkinsky Lane () in the

Khamovniki District Khamovniki District () is a administrative divisions of Moscow, district of Central Administrative Okrug of the federal cities of Russia, federal city of Moscow, Russia. Population: The district extends from Bolshoy Kamenny Bridge into the Lu ...

of Moscow.

Embassy building

The current building of the embassy has been in use since December 6th, 1948; Finland's independence day. It is the first building that Finland built specifically as a diplomatic mission. It was also the first foreign mission to be built in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

capital of MoscowJussi Niemeläinen, Suomen valkoinen talo. Helsingin Sanomat 1.12.2013 s. C 10–11 and it remains one of the few functionalist buildings in the city. The building’s large balcony is called "Paasikiven komentosilta"; "The command bridge of

Paasikivi Juho Kusti Paasikivi (, 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the seventh president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coalitio ...

". Inside, in the decorative hall between the dining hall and the great hall, there are two paintings by

Ilya Repin Ilya Yefimovich Repin ( – 29 September 1930) was a Russian painter, born in what is today Ukraine. He became one of the most renowned artists in Russian Empire, Russia in the 19th century. His major works include ''Barge Haulers on the Volga' ...

and gilded furniture from the beginning of the 20th century. According to legend, the furniture originates from the minister-secretary of state’s residence during the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

. The great hall features modern furniture and the dining hall has furniture designed by

Elli Ruuth Elli Ruuth (1893 – 1975) was a Finnish furniture architect. She was active in 1924 – 1952. Works Ruuth designed furniture for various state and municipal buildings. According to Architecta, the Finnish association of women architects, her " ...

. When the building was completed, the staff lived in the embassy area. During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, the building was vacant and under Swedish surveillance. Swedish diplomats lived in the building during 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 during World War II. It began with a Finnish declaration of war on 25 June 1941 and ended on 19 ...

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

diplomat

George F. Kennan George Frost Kennan (February 16, 1904 – March 17, 2005) was an American diplomat and historian. He was best known as an advocate of a policy of containment of Soviet expansion during the Cold War. He lectured widely and wrote scholarly hist ...

moved in once the war was over. There were allotments, as well as

chickens The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

and

pigs The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

, in the embassy yard from the late 1940s until the 1960s, when apartments for the staff began to be rented from elsewhere in the city. The construction for the additional building for the embassy began once the Soviet Union dissolved and was completed in 1996.

Ambassadors

Soviet Union

Russia

References

External links

*
Embassy of Finland in Moscow
Finland–Russia relations

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...