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.

A Lawyer and a politician

Svinhufvud's career in law followed a regular course: he worked as a lawyer, served at district courts, and served as a deputy judge at worked at the Turku Court of Appeal. In 1892 he was appointed as a member of the Senate's law-drafting committee at the relatively young age of 31. For six years he worked in the committee, initially redrafting taxation laws. As head of his family, Svinhufvud participated as a member of the Estate of Nobles in the Diet of Finland in 1894.

Related Topics:
Turku - 1892 - Diet of Finland - 1894

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He found his work on the law-drafting committee tedious and moved to the Court of Appeal as an assistant judge in 1902, his long-term goal being the easy life of a rural judge. Svinhufvud stayed mainly in the background until 1899, when Imperial Russia initiated a Russification policy for the autonomous Grand Duchy.

Related Topics:
1902 - 1899 - Russification policy

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The Finnish answer was mainly legislative and constitutional resistance, of which Svinhufvud became a central figure as a judge in the Court of Appeals.

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When some inhabitants of Helsinki lodged a complaint with the Turku Court of Appeal in 1902, concerning violence employed by the Russian Governor of Uusimaa to break up a demonstration against military call-ups, the court initiated proceedings against Governor-General Bobrikov. Bobrikov demanded that they be stopped, and when this did not happen, he used a decree which the Finns regarded as illegal to dismiss sixteen officials of the court, including Svinhufvud.

Related Topics:
1902 - Uusimaa - Bobrikov

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Originally a moderate of the Finnish Party or Old Finnish Party, after his dismissal Svinhufvud became a strict constitutionalist who regarded the resistance of judges and officials as a question of justice, not believing that political expediency offered compromises. He moved to Helsinki to work as a lawyer and participated in the political activities both of the Diet and of a secret society, Kagal.

Related Topics:
Finnish Party - Kagal

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Svinhufvud played a key role in the birth of a new parliamentary system in 1905 and he was elected as a Young Finnish Party member of the new Parliament in 1906. After being chosen as a judge in Heinola, he attempted to keep out of the front line of politics. However he was elected Speaker of the Parliament in 1907, largely because the majority Social Democrats considered him "the best-known opponent of illegality". Svinhufvud's parliamentary opening speeches, in which he laid emphasis on legality, led to the Tsar dissolving Parliament in both 1909 and 1910. He served as Speaker until 1912.

Related Topics:
1905 - Young Finnish Party - Parliament - 1906 - Heinola - Speaker - 1907 - Social Democrats - 1909 - 1910 - 1912

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During the First World War, when Russia replaced various Finnish officials with Russians. Svinhufvud refused to obey the orders of the Russian procurator Konstantin Kazansky, which he considered illegal, and this led to his removal from office as a judge and being exiled to Tomsk in Siberia in November 1914. In his Siberian exile, he spent his time hunting and mending his clothes, still keeping secret contact with the independence movement. When he left Finland, he had promised to return "with the help of God and Hindenburg". When news of the February Revolution reached Svinhufvud, he walked to the town's police station and bluntly announced, "The person who sent me here has been arrested. Now I'm going home." In Helsinki he was greeted as a national hero.

Related Topics:
First World War - Tomsk - Siberia - 1914 - February Revolution

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