Harri Gustaf Holma (last name until 1906 ''Hellman''; April 14, 1886 – April 14, 1954) was a Finnish diplomat and

assyriologist Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia'') is the archaeological, anthropological, and linguistic study of Assyria and the rest of ancient Mesopotamia (a region that encompassed what is now modern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southea ...

. Holma was born in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

. His parents were colleague Anders Victor Hellman and Anna Ida Charlotta af Enehjelm. He graduated from the Finnish Normal School in 1903 and studied at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

completing Bachelor and Master of Philosophy in 1907, Licentiate in 1912 and Ph.D. in 1914. Holma studied assyriology in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

in 1910,

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. Holma served as a docent of Assyriology and Semitic Philology at the University of Helsinki from 1913 to 1923, as a librarian at the Student Library from 1904 to 1919 and as secretary to the Finnish Science Club delegation, librarian and a treasurer 1914–1919. Holma was the secretary and chairman of the Estonian Assistant Committee since 1919. After Finland became independent, Holma moved to the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

. He was Head of the archive department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1918, a newsreader and secretary of the post in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

from 1919 to 1920, and as Chargé d'Affaires in Berlin in 1920–1921. In 1918, Holma was also sent to familiarize Hesse's Landgraf Friedrich Karl with Finnish culture and

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of ...

who was planned for the King of Finland. Holma served as Envoy to Berlin and

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

from 1921 to 1927,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

from 1927 to 1943,

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

from 1943 to 1947 and

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

from 1947 to 1953. Holma was also a member of the Finnish delegation to the General Assembly of the League of Nations in 1935–1939 and a permanent member of the National Guard Committee of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

1936–1941. Holma donated his collection of art collections to the City of

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

in 1953. He died in Capri,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, aged 68. Harri Holma was married from 1912 to Alli Maria Haapakoski (1888–1963). Their son was a writer and art historian Klaus Ben Holma. Harri Holma's brother, Kaarlo Holma, was a lawyer, a colleague MP and a Parliamentary Ombudsman.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holma, Harri Finnish diplomats Finnish Assyriologists People from Hämeenlinna 1886 births 1954 deaths Finnish expatriates in Italy