Yrjö Esalas Emanuel Mäkelin (1 June 1875 – 18 September 1923), was a Finnish Socialist, journalist, a leader of the Finnish labour movement and Member of Parliament 1908–1910, 1913–1918. Mäkelin was born in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

. He was editor of '' Kansan Lehti'' (''People's Paper''), later also of ''Oikeus'' (''Justice''), which he founded in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

, and of ''Kansan Tahto'' (''People's Will'') in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

. Mäkelin wrote several important texts: Finnish Labour Party's 1903 Forssa Declaration on Universal Suffrage; the Red Declaration during 1905 general strike that demanded dissolution of

Senate of Finland The Senate of Finland (; ) combined the functions of Cabinet (government), cabinet and supreme court in the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1816 to 1917 and in independent Finland from 1917 to 1918. The body that would become the Senate was establis ...

and universal suffrage, political freedoms, and abolition of censorship. 18 July 1917 Socialist-majority Parliament accepted (pro 135, against 55) a law crafted by his committee to transfer the ultimate political power in Finland to

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

. The

Russian Provisional Government The Russian Provisional Government was a provisional government of the Russian Empire and Russian Republic, announced two days before and established immediately after the abdication of Nicholas II on 2 March, O.S. New_Style.html" ;"title="5 ...

chose to ignore the law and dissolved the Parliament of Finland. After the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

he was captured by the Whites and sentenced to death, later converted to a life sentence. A general pardon was granted 1922 and Mäkelin was released. After the division of the Finnish Social Democratic Party, he chose the Communist side, so he was arrested again in August 1923, and then committed suicide in prison in September 1923. 6000–7000 people took part in his funeral in Oulu. A street was later named after him.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Makelin, Yrjo 1875 births 1923 suicides 1923 deaths Politicians from Tampere People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians Political prisoners in Finland Finnish people who died in prison custody Finnish communists Members of the Diet of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1908–1909) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1909–1910) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1910–1911) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1913–1916) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1916–1917) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1917–1919) People convicted of treason against Finland Prisoners sentenced to death by Finland Finnish prisoners sentenced to death People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side) Recipients of Finnish presidential pardons Prisoners who died in Finnish detention Finnish politicians who died by suicide Drug-related suicides in Finland People who died by suicide in prison custody