Vilho Helanen
Vilho Helanen | |
---|---|
Born | Vilho Veikko Päiviö Helanen 24 November 1899 |
Died | 8 June 1952 | (aged 52)
Citizenship | Finnish |
Education | Ph. D. |
Alma mater | University of Helsinki |
Occupation | Civil servant |
Known for | Political activist, author |
Title | Chairman of the Academic Karelia Society |
Term | 1927-1928; 1934-1935; 1935-1944 |
Political party | National Progressive Party |
Vilho Veikko Päiviö Helanen (24 November 1899 – 8 June 1952) was a Finnish civil servant and politician.
Helanen was born in Oulu, and was a student as the University of Helsinki, where he gained an MA in 1923 and completed his doctorate in 1940.[1] From 1924 to 1926 he edited the student paper Ylioppilaslehti and around this time joined the Academic Karelia Society.[1] He served as chairman of the group from 1927 to 1928, from 1934 to 1935 and again from 1935 to 1944, helping to turn the Society against democracy.[1] Helanen visited Estonia in 1933 and was amazed at the high levels of popular support for the far right that he witnessed there, in contrast to Finland where it was a more marginal force.[2] As a result, he was involved in the coup attempt of the Vaps Movement in Estonia in 1935.[1]
Helanen was a major inspiration for the Patriotic People's Movement and a close friend of Elias Simojoki, although he did not join the group and instead became a vocal supporter of Adolf Hitler.[1] He formed his own group, Rising Finland, in 1940 which, despite his earlier radicalism, became associated with the mainstream National Progressive Party.[1] Helanen was one of the leaders of the Pro-German resistance movement in Finland.[3]
Rising to be head of the civil service during World War II, Helanen was arrested in 1948 for continuing to collaborate with the Nazis after Finland switched sides. On 6 May 1950, he was found guilty of treason and sentenced to six years in prison.[4] Helanen was pardoned on 3 March 1951. Following his release, he worked for Suomi-Filmi and also wrote a series of detective novels.[4] He died of a heart attack in the railway station at Frankfurt am Main, West Germany.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Philip Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right Since 1890, 1990, p. 176
- ^ Andres Kasekamp, The Radical Right in Interwar Estonia, Palgrave Macmillan, 2000, p. 93
- ^ Lappalainen, Niilo: Aselevon jälkeen. WSOY, 1997. ISBN 951-0-21813-8. p. 106
- ^ a b Rees, Biographical Dictionary of the Extreme Right, p. 177
- 1899 births
- 1956 deaths
- People from Oulu
- People from Oulu Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
- Patriotic People's Movement (Finland) politicians
- Finnish civil servants
- Writers from Northern Ostrobothnia
- Finnish expatriates in Estonia
- Finnish military personnel of World War II
- Finnish politicians convicted of crimes
- Finnish prisoners and detainees
- 20th-century Finnish novelists
- Finnish Nazis
- Nazis convicted of crimes
- Nazi politicians
- People of the Estonian War of Independence
- People of the Finnish Civil War (White side)
- People convicted of treason against Finland