Yrjö Leino
Encyclopedia
Yrjö Leino was a Finnish
communist politician. Imprisoned twice for his communist activities, and spending much of the Second World War as an underground communist activist, he served as a minister in three cabinets between 1944 and 1948.
without graduating. In 1921, after working in Helsinki and in casual agricultural jobs, Leino received an argicultural trade school diploma. Around 1924, Leino bought a farm called Lövkulla in Kirkkonummi
, but the farm soon led him to financial difficulties. Leino was forced to sell Lövkulla in the early 1930s. Around this time he also separated from his first wife, Alli Simola, and moved to Oitmäki, where his second wife Ulla Smedberg was a teacher. Again, the marriage ended in separation.
, who had just been released from prison. In 1935, Leino was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment for high treason. During imprisonment, he is said to have formally become a communist. Leino was released from prison in 1938, but the security police Valpo
kept him under surveillance. The newly-liberated Leino then participated in underground activities of the prohibited Communist Party of Finland.
Leino stayed underground, hiding in communist safe-houses across the Finnish countryside. In those years, Leino became acquainted with his future wife Hertta Kuusinen
. In 1940, Leino was detained in a secure facility. His detention continued until 1941, when he escaped from a prison train in Riihimäki
, which was taking prisoners to fight in a penal battalion. Leino particapted in underground Communist Party activities until the 1944 armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union and the legalization of the Communist Party.
(SKDL) from Kuopio
. Leino remained in parliament until 1950. He became Minister of the Interior in 1945. Leino's time as Minister of the Interior is often referred to as Finland's "years of peril", as the far left control over the Interior Ministry and therefore the internal security apparatus of the nation raised fears of a communist takeover.
In the spring of 1948, Leino was the SKDL representative in the delegation which negotiated the Finno-Soviet YYA treaty in Moscow. Some days before the delegation's departure to Moscow, Leino met with the Chief of Defence, General Aarne Sihvo, and presented him with concerns about extreme right-wing and left-wing demonstrations that suggested a coup. Leino asked that the army secure order in Finland while the YYA was being negotiated.
President Paasikivi
released Leino from his duties as interior minister in 1948. Parliament had adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945. Overall, Leino was a minister for 1,283 days. After leaving parliament in 1951, Leino avoided publicity.
. The manuscript was prepared in secret – even most of the staff of the publishing company Tammi
were kept in ignorance – but the project was revealed by Leino because of an indiscretion just before the planned publication. A book intended for public consumption hit a sore point as Finnish-Soviet relations had reached an extremely sensitive stage. Moreover, the SKDL newspaper Kansan Uutiset
attacked Leino for publishing the memoir. The paper claimed that the book had been ghost-written by the renegade ex-communist Arvo Tuominen
, who, however, had been completely unaware of the project.
Chargé d'Affaires of the Soviet Union in Finland Ivan Filippov (Ambassador Viktor Lebedev had suddenly departed from Finland a few weeks earlier on 21 October 1958) demanded that Prime Minister Karl-August Fagerholm
's government prevent the release of Leino's memoirs. Fagerholm said that the government could legally do nothing, because the work had not yet been released nor was there censorship in Finland. Filippov advised that if Leino's book was published, the Soviet Union would draw "serious conclusions". Later the same day Fagerholm called the publisher, Untamo Utrio, and it was decided that the January launch of the book was to be cancelled. Eventually, the entire print run of the book was destroyed at the Soviet Union's request. Almost all of the books – some 12,500 copies – were burned in August 1962 with the exception of a few volumes which were furtively sent to political activists. Deputy director of Tammi Jarl Hellemann later argued that the fuss about the book was completely disproportionate to its substance, describing the incident as the first instance of Finnish self-censorship motivated by concerns about relations to the Soviet Union (see Finlandization
). The book was finally published in 1991, when interest in it had largely dissipated.
.
Leino died on 28 June 1961, almost entirely forgotten, marked by an ever-worsening problem of alcohol abuse and a paranoid fear of assassination attempts. Leino is buried in the Honkanummi cemetery in Vantaa
.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
communist politician. Imprisoned twice for his communist activities, and spending much of the Second World War as an underground communist activist, he served as a minister in three cabinets between 1944 and 1948.
Early years
Yrjö Leino was the only child of tanner Oskar Leino and factory worker Mandi Leino (née Enfors). Leino studied at Helsingin normaalilyseoHelsingin normaalilyseo
Helsingin normaalilyseo is a school in Helsinki, Finland, consisting of the upper part of primary school and secondary school ....
without graduating. In 1921, after working in Helsinki and in casual agricultural jobs, Leino received an argicultural trade school diploma. Around 1924, Leino bought a farm called Lövkulla in Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi
Kirkkonummi is a municipality of inhabitants in southern Finland. The literal meaning of the words "Kirkkonummi" and "Kyrkslätt" in English is "church moor"....
, but the farm soon led him to financial difficulties. Leino was forced to sell Lövkulla in the early 1930s. Around this time he also separated from his first wife, Alli Simola, and moved to Oitmäki, where his second wife Ulla Smedberg was a teacher. Again, the marriage ended in separation.
Political captivity
Leino moved towards the extreme left in the 1930s. Detectives had begun surveillance on him after the fugitive communist activist Antti Järvinen had visited Leino in Lövkulla in early 1926. The same year Leino was also visited by Arvo TuominenArvo Tuominen
Arvo "Poika" Tuominen was a Finnish Communist revolutionary and later a social democratic journalist and politician. Tuominen was given his nickname Poika in 1920 because of his boyish looks—poika means "boy" in Finnish....
, who had just been released from prison. In 1935, Leino was sentenced to three and a half years' imprisonment for high treason. During imprisonment, he is said to have formally become a communist. Leino was released from prison in 1938, but the security police Valpo
Valtiollinen Poliisi
Valtiollinen poliisi was the predecessor of the Finnish Security Intelligence Service.- Etsivä keskuspoliisi :...
kept him under surveillance. The newly-liberated Leino then participated in underground activities of the prohibited Communist Party of Finland.
War years
During the Winter WarWinter War
The Winter War was a military conflict between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet offensive on 30 November 1939 – three months after the start of World War II and the Soviet invasion of Poland – and ended on 13 March 1940 with the Moscow Peace Treaty...
Leino stayed underground, hiding in communist safe-houses across the Finnish countryside. In those years, Leino became acquainted with his future wife Hertta Kuusinen
Hertta Kuusinen
Hertta Elina Kuusinen was a Finnish Communist politician. She was a member of the central committee and the political bureau of the Communist Party of Finland, member of parliament , general secretary and the leader of the parliamentary group of the Finnish People's Democratic League...
. In 1940, Leino was detained in a secure facility. His detention continued until 1941, when he escaped from a prison train in Riihimäki
Riihimäki
Riihimäki is a town and municipality in the south of Finland, about north of Helsinki and southeast of Tampere. It is somewhat of a railway junction, since the railway tracks going from different parts of the nation to Helsinki merge there. Sako, Ltd...
, which was taking prisoners to fight in a penal battalion. Leino particapted in underground Communist Party activities until the 1944 armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union and the legalization of the Communist Party.
Parliamentary and ministerial years
In the 1945 parliamentary elections, Leino was elected Member of Parliament for the Finnish People's Democratic LeagueFinnish People's Democratic League
Finnish People's Democratic League was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party...
(SKDL) from Kuopio
Kuopio
Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...
. Leino remained in parliament until 1950. He became Minister of the Interior in 1945. Leino's time as Minister of the Interior is often referred to as Finland's "years of peril", as the far left control over the Interior Ministry and therefore the internal security apparatus of the nation raised fears of a communist takeover.
In the spring of 1948, Leino was the SKDL representative in the delegation which negotiated the Finno-Soviet YYA treaty in Moscow. Some days before the delegation's departure to Moscow, Leino met with the Chief of Defence, General Aarne Sihvo, and presented him with concerns about extreme right-wing and left-wing demonstrations that suggested a coup. Leino asked that the army secure order in Finland while the YYA was being negotiated.
President Paasikivi
Juho Kusti Paasikivi
Juho Kusti Paasikivi was the seventh President of Finland . Representing the Finnish Party and the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Minister of Finland , and was generally an influential figure in Finnish economics and politics for over fifty years...
released Leino from his duties as interior minister in 1948. Parliament had adopted a motion of censure of Leino with connection to his illegal handing over of nineteen people to the Soviet Union in 1945. Overall, Leino was a minister for 1,283 days. After leaving parliament in 1951, Leino avoided publicity.
Memoirs
Leino returned to the public eye for the last time in 1958 with his memoirs of his time as Minister of the Interior. Leino had already begun to draw up a manuscript several years earlier, but the book was finished with the help of publisher Untamo Utrio and editor, later Prime Minister Kalevi SorsaKalevi Sorsa
Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979, 1982–1983 and 1983–1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister...
. The manuscript was prepared in secret – even most of the staff of the publishing company Tammi
Tammi
Tammi has multiple meanings.* Tammi is a Finnish publishing company, named after the Finnish word for "oak".* Jukka Tammi, Finnish Ice Hockey Goaltender* Tammi Terrell, American Motown singer...
were kept in ignorance – but the project was revealed by Leino because of an indiscretion just before the planned publication. A book intended for public consumption hit a sore point as Finnish-Soviet relations had reached an extremely sensitive stage. Moreover, the SKDL newspaper Kansan Uutiset
Kansan Uutiset
Kansan Uutiset is a Finnish weekly newspaper. It is the party organ of Left Alliance.Kansan Uutiset was founded in 1957 as the joint organ of Communist Party of Finland and Finnish People's Democratic League , both of which, until then, had had their own papers, Työkansan Sanomat and Vapaa Sana...
attacked Leino for publishing the memoir. The paper claimed that the book had been ghost-written by the renegade ex-communist Arvo Tuominen
Arvo Tuominen
Arvo "Poika" Tuominen was a Finnish Communist revolutionary and later a social democratic journalist and politician. Tuominen was given his nickname Poika in 1920 because of his boyish looks—poika means "boy" in Finnish....
, who, however, had been completely unaware of the project.
Chargé d'Affaires of the Soviet Union in Finland Ivan Filippov (Ambassador Viktor Lebedev had suddenly departed from Finland a few weeks earlier on 21 October 1958) demanded that Prime Minister Karl-August Fagerholm
Karl-August Fagerholm
Karl-August Fagerholm was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland . Fagerholm became chairman of the Social Democrats after the armistice in the Continuation War...
's government prevent the release of Leino's memoirs. Fagerholm said that the government could legally do nothing, because the work had not yet been released nor was there censorship in Finland. Filippov advised that if Leino's book was published, the Soviet Union would draw "serious conclusions". Later the same day Fagerholm called the publisher, Untamo Utrio, and it was decided that the January launch of the book was to be cancelled. Eventually, the entire print run of the book was destroyed at the Soviet Union's request. Almost all of the books – some 12,500 copies – were burned in August 1962 with the exception of a few volumes which were furtively sent to political activists. Deputy director of Tammi Jarl Hellemann later argued that the fuss about the book was completely disproportionate to its substance, describing the incident as the first instance of Finnish self-censorship motivated by concerns about relations to the Soviet Union (see Finlandization
Finlandization
Finlandization is a term used to describe the influence that one powerful country may have on the policies of a smaller neighboring country.It is generally considered to be pejorative, originating in West German political debate of the late 1960s and 1970s...
). The book was finally published in 1991, when interest in it had largely dissipated.
Private life
Leino's personal life was often stormy. Leino was first married to Alli Simola. Their daughter Lieko Tuuli Zachovalova gained fame as radio journalist. Leino's second marriage, to Ulla Smedberg, produced a son, journalist and author Olle Leino (born 1932) now resident in Sweden. In 1973, Olle published a biography of his father, "Who was Yrjö Leino" (Vem tackar Yrjö Leino), and in 1990, the book "Just one more letter" (Ännu ett brev), where he describes the relationship between his father and his third wife Hertta KuusinenHertta Kuusinen
Hertta Elina Kuusinen was a Finnish Communist politician. She was a member of the central committee and the political bureau of the Communist Party of Finland, member of parliament , general secretary and the leader of the parliamentary group of the Finnish People's Democratic League...
.
Leino died on 28 June 1961, almost entirely forgotten, marked by an ever-worsening problem of alcohol abuse and a paranoid fear of assassination attempts. Leino is buried in the Honkanummi cemetery in Vantaa
Vantaa
Vantaa is a city and municipality in Finland. Helsinki, Vantaa, Espoo and Kauniainen make up the Helsinki Metropolitan Area.Vantaa, with its population of , is the fourth most populated city of Finland. The biggest airport in Finland, the Helsinki-Vantaa Airport, is located there...
.