Axel Johan Lille (28 March 1848,

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

– 28 June 1921) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish journalist and politician and the main founder of the

Swedish People's Party The Swedish People's Party of Finland (SPP; , SFP; , RKP) is a Finnish political party founded in 1906. Its primary aim is to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. The party is currently a participant in ...

(''Svenska folkpartiet'', SFP) and its leader 1907–1917. Lille was the first who publicly proposed Finnish independence in his speech on April 9, 1902. Lille was member of the

Diet of Finland The Diet of Finland (Finnish language, Finnish ''Suomen maapäivät'', later ''valtiopäivät''; Swedish language, Swedish ''Finlands Lantdagar''), was the Diet (assembly), legislative assembly of the Grand Duchy of Finland from 1809 to 1906 ...

for the Estate of Burghers 1885–1900 and member of

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

from 1916 to 1917. He founder newspaper ''Vikingen'', refounded ''Nya Pressen'' and was its editor 1906–1914 and for its successor ''Dagens Press''. Lille was a

Social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

and wished to include more social reforms in SFP's program than eventually was included. In 1902, Lille moved to

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Sweden, and he received Swedish citizenship in 1903.

References

, - , - 1848 births 1921 deaths Journalists from the Russian Empire Politicians from Helsinki Politicians from Uusimaa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Swedish People's Party of Finland politicians Members of the Diet of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1916–1917) University of Helsinki alumni Finnish emigrants to Sweden {{SwedishPeoplesParty-politician-stub