Pehr Evind Svinhufvud

Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (December 15, 1861 – February 29, 1944) was the President of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a judge in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, he played a major part in the movement for Finnish independence. He was the first pre-presidential Head of State in independent Finland, first as Chairman of the Senate, and then subsequently as Protector of State or Regent. He also served as Prime Minister 1930-1931.

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Svinhufvud was born in S??ksm?ki, the son of Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud, a sea captain, and Olga von Becker. His father drowned at sea off Greece in 1863, when Pehr Evind was only two years old. He spent his early childhood at the home of his paternal grandfather, Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud (a provincal treasurer of H?me), at Rapola, where the family had lived for five generations. The Svinhufvud's were a Swedophone family tracing their history back to Dalecarlia, Sweden. Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, an army lieutenant in the reign of Charles XII, had moved from there to Rapola after the Great Northern War. The family had been ennobled in 1574. Rapola was sold when his grandfather shot himself in 1866, and Svinhufvud moved to Helsinki with his mother and his sister.

December 15: December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 16 days remaining....

1861: 1861 is a common year starting on Tuesday....

1944: 1944 was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar)....