Erkki Aleksanteri Räikkönen (13 August 1900 – 30 March 1961) was a Finnish

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

leader. Born in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

to a

cantor A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. Cantor as a profession generally refers to those leading a Jewish congregation, although it also applies to the lead singer or choir director in Christian contexts. ...

, he attended the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

before taking part in the ill-fated mission to secure independence for

Karelia Karelia (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; , historically Коре́ла, ''Korela'' []; ) is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Russia (including the Soviet Union, Soviet era), Finland, and Sweden. It is currentl ...

in 1921.Philip Rees, ''

Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890 The ''Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890'' is a reference book by Philip Rees, on leading people in the various far right movements since 1890. It contains entries for what the author regards as "the 500 major figures on the ...

'', Simon & Schuster, 1990, p. 312 Like most of those who took part in this event he joined the Academic Karelia Society (AKS), helping to found the movement along with Elias Simojoki and Reino Vähäkallio. He quit in 1928 to join ''Itsenäisyyden Liitto'' (Independence League), a group that had been formed by

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (, 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...

, Räikkönen's most admired political figure. Räikkönen took this decision in response to the banning of the

Lapua Movement The Lapua Movement (, ) was a radical Finnish nationalist, fascist, pro- German and anti-communist political movement founded in and named after the town of Lapua. Led by Vihtori Kosola, it turned towards far-right politics after its founding ...

, a move that had left the

far right Far-right politics, often termed right-wing extremism, encompasses a range of ideologies that are marked by ultraconservatism, authoritarianism, ultranationalism, and Nativism (politics), nativism. This political spectrum situates itself on ...

in Finland without a wide organisational basis (groups like AKS having small, elite memberships). Along with Herman Gummerus and

Vilho Annala Vilho Annala (17 January 1888 – 28 July 1960) was a Finnish civil servant, economist and far right politician. Early years Annala was born in Lapua, and first came to prominence as a student at the University of Helsinki, where he edited the s ...

Räikkönen was the founder of the

Patriotic People's Movement Patriotic People's Movement (, IKL, ) was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapua Movement. It existed from 1932 to 1944 and had an ideology similar to its predecessor, exce ...

in 1932. He would not stay a member long however as the group soon became purely Finnish (isolating the Swedish-speaking Räikkönen) and he moved closer to

Nazism Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During Hitler's rise to power, it was fre ...

. Having left the movement he contented himself with editing the journal ''Suomen Vapaussota'', whilst also becoming involved in

Gustav Vasa Gustav Eriksson Vasa (12 May 1496 – 29 September 1560), also known as Gustav I, was King of Sweden from 1523 until his death in 1560. He was previously self-recognised Protector of the Realm (''Reichsverweser#Sweden, Riksföreståndare'') fr ...

movement, a Nazi organization for Finland's Swedish-speaking population and Blue Cross, another Nazi group. He ultimately emigrated to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 1945 and lived out his life there in retirement.Lindstedt, Risto: Ukko-Pekka ja maisetri. Suomen Kuvalehti, 2020, nro 28, s. 28-33. Yhtyneet Kuvalehdet Oy. Suomen Kuvalehti Arkist
(vain tilaajille)

References

1900 births 1961 deaths Politicians from Saint Petersburg Patriotic People's Movement (Finland) politicians Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish nationalists Finnish writers Finnish emigrants to Sweden Finnish Nazis {{Finland-politician-stub