Arne Halonen (9 November 189814 April 1986) was a Finnish journalist and university teacher. He was active in the Finnish–American socialist movement and worked in the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

. Halonen is also known for his 1928 book '' Suomen luokkasota'' (Finnish Class War), which was banned in Finland.

Life

Halonen was a high school student as the 1918

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War was a civil war in Finland in 1918 fought for the leadership and control of the country between Whites (Finland), White Finland and the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (Red Finland) during the country's transition fr ...

broke out. He served as an office clerk for the Red Government and was captured in April after the

Battle of Viipuri The Battle of Viipuri was a 1918 Finnish Civil War battle, fought 24–29 April between the White Guards (Finland), Finnish Whites and the Red Guards (Finland), Finnish Reds in Viipuri. Together with the Battle of Tampere and Battle of Helsinki ...

. Halonen spent few weeks at a prison camp, but was soon released. In fall 1918, he entered the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

. In 1920, Halonen emigrated to the United States, following his elder brother George Halonen. He worked for the Finnish–American socialist newspapers ''

Raivaaja ''Raivaaja'' (English: The Pioneer) was a Finnish-language newspaper published from 1905 to 2009 in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, by Raivaaja Publishing Company. For the first three decades of its existence the publication was closely associated wit ...

'', ''

Työmies ''Työmies'' (The Worker) was a politically radical Finnish-language newspaper published primarily out of Hancock, Michigan, and Superior, Wisconsin. Launched as a weekly in July 1903, the paper later went to daily frequency and was issued und ...

'' and ''

Eteenpäin ''Eteenpäin'' (English: ''Forward'') was a Finnish-language daily newspaper launched in New York City in 1921. The paper was the East Coast organ of Finnish-American members of the Communist Party USA. The paper moved to Worcester, Massachusetts ...

''. In 1928, Halonen was expelled from the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

and he joined the

Socialist Party of America The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of America ...

. In the 1930s, Halonen worked in the insurance and real estate businesses in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. He was the founder of the cooperative insurance company Cooperators' Life Association. During the

Winter War The Winter War was a war between the Soviet Union and Finland. It began with a Soviet invasion of Finland on 30 November 1939, three months after the outbreak of World War II, and ended three and a half months later with the Moscow Peac ...

, Halonen raised funds for Finland organizing the

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

branch of the Finnish Relief Fund. Halonen earned his master's degree at the University of Minnesota, where he taught Finnish language and political science from 1950 to 1962. Halonen returned Finland in 1983 and died at the age of 87 in April 1986.

Works

*Halonen, Arne (ed.): '' Suomen luokkasota: historiaa ja muistelmia'' innish Class War: History and Memoires 1928 *Sulkanen, Elis & Halonen, Arne: ''Kominternin politiikan vararikko'' ankruptcy of Komintern Politics 1930 *''The Role of Finnish–Americans in the Political Labor Movement'', 1945, Master's thesis

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Halonen, Arne 1898 births 1986 deaths American people of Finnish descent Finnish journalists University of Minnesota faculty Finnish communists Finnish socialists Members of the Communist Party USA Members of the Socialist Party of America People of the Finnish Civil War (Red side)