Ellen Aleksandra Stenberg (17 March 19036 July 1987) was a Finnish politician and member of the

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 ...

, the national

legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

of Finland. A member of the

Communist Party of Finland The Communist Party of Finland (, SKP; ) was a communist political party in Finland. The SKP was a section of Comintern and illegal in Finland until 1944. The SKP was banned by the state from its founding and did not participate in any elec ...

(SKP) and the

Finnish People's Democratic League Finnish People's Democratic League (, SKDL; , DFFF) was a Finnish political organisation with the aim of uniting those left of the Finnish Social Democratic Party. It was founded in 1944 as the anti-communist laws in Finland were repealed due ...

(SKDL), she represented Häme Province North between April 1945 and April 1966. Prior to being elected, she was imprisoned for twelve years for political reasons.

Early life

Stenberg was born on 17 March 1903 in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

in the south-west of the

Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed from 1809 to 1917 as an Autonomous region, autonomous state within the Russian Empire. Originating in the 16th century as a titular grand duchy held by the Monarc ...

. She was the daughter of

coachman A coachman is a person who drives a Coach (carriage), coach or carriage, or similar horse-drawn vehicle. A coachman has also been called a coachee, coachy, whip, or hackman. The coachman's first concern is to remain in full control of the hors ...

Frans Oskar Stenberg and

seamstress A dressmaker, also known as a seamstress, is a person who makes clothing for women, such as dresses, blouses, and evening gowns. Dressmakers were historically known as mantua-makers, and are also known as a modiste or fabrician. Notable d ...

Hilma Aleksandra Pataniitty. She attended folk school and

evening Evening is the period of a day that begins at the end of daylight and overlaps with the beginning of night. It generally indicates the period of time when the sun is close to the horizon and comprises the periods of civil, nautical and astronom ...

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

(1920-1922). She studied at the

Communist University of the National Minorities of the West The Communist University of the National Minorities of the West (KUNMZ – ''Kommunistichesky Universitet Natsionalnykh Menshinstv Zapada''; КУНМЗ - Коммунистический университет национальных меньши ...

Leningrad Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

from 1924 to 1928. Stenberg started working in 1915 when she was still a child. She was a milliner and fur worker in Tampere from 1917 to 1924. Later she was a teacher in

Gatchina Gatchina (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies south-south-west of St. Petersburg, along the E95 highway which links Saint Petersburg and Pskov. Population: It was pr ...

in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

from 1928 to 1929.

Politics and imprisonment

As a child Stenberg joined Ihanneliitto, a

social democratic Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

youth organisation. During the

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 ...

in 1918 she served as a messenger for the

Reds Reds may refer to: General * Red (political adjective), supporters of Communism or socialism * ''Reds'' (film), a 1981 American film starring and directed by Warren Beatty * Reds (January Uprising), a faction of the Polish insurrectionists duri ...

. She joined the

(SKP) in 1921 and was the party's women organiser in

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 ...

from 1929 to 1930. Following the introduction of

anti-communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

laws in 1930, Stenberg was amongst thousands of

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

s imprisoned by the government. The Etsivä keskuspoliisi (EK)

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

(also known as Ohrana) was brutal in its suppression of communism and torture was routine during

interrogation Interrogation (also called questioning) is interviewing as commonly employed by law enforcement officers, military personnel, intelligence agencies, organized crime syndicates, and terrorist organizations with the goal of eliciting useful informa ...

. During interrogation Stenberg's interrogator Iso-Mäkelä grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor; a

lock of hair Lock(s) or Locked may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainme ...

was left in the interrogator's hand. On 19 December 1930 the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

Vaasa Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),convicted In law, a conviction is the determination by a court of law that a defendant is guilty of a crime. A conviction may follow a guilty plea that is accepted by the court, a jury trial in which a verdict of guilty is delivered, or a trial by jud ...

Stenberg of preparing for

high treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its d ...

and

sentenced Sentenced was a Finnish gothic metal band that played melodic death metal in their early years. The band formed in 1989 in the town of Muhos and broke up in 2005. Lead guitarist Miika Tenkula was the band's vocalist for the first album, but du ...

her to six years imprisonment with loss of

civic rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

for ten years. She and other female political prisoners were kept in harsh conditions at

Häme Castle Häme Castle or Tavastia Castle (, ) is a medieval castle in Tavastia Proper, Finland. It is located in Hämeenlinna, the city between Helsinki and Tampere. Originally located on an island, the castle now sits on the coast of lake Vanajavesi. ...

. She was released on

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

on 20 December 1936. After being released, Stenberg was a fur worker in Helsinki from 1937 to 1939. On 9 June 1939 the Court of Appeal in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

convicted Stenberg of preparing for high treason for a second time and sentenced her to four years imprisonment with loss of civic rights for a further ten years. She was given an additional six-month sentence for violating her parole. Following the defeat of the Finnish fascists by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

in 1944, the SKP was legalised and all political prisoners released in accordance with the

Moscow Armistice The Moscow Armistice was signed between Finland on one side and the Soviet Union and United Kingdom on the other side on 19 September 1944, ending the Continuation War. The Armistice restored the Moscow Peace Treaty of 1940, with a number of modi ...

. Stenberg was released in September 1944 and her civic rights restored.

Return to politics

Stenberg was a member of the central committees of the SKP and president of the Tampere branch of the SKP. She was committee member of the Finnish Women's Democratic Union (Suomen Naisten Demokraattinen Liitto). She was elected to the

at the 1945 parliamentary election. She was re-elected at the

1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

1951 Events January * January 4 – Korean War: Third Battle of Seoul – Chinese and North Korean forces capture Seoul for the second time (having lost the Second Battle of Seoul in September 1950). * January 9 – The Government of the Uni ...

1954 Events January * January 3 – The Italian broadcaster RAI officially begins transmitting. * January 7 – Georgetown–IBM experiment: The first public demonstration of a machine translation system is held in New York, at the head ...

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the thir ...

and

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

parliamentary elections. She was a presidential elector at the

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 ...

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

and

presidential elections. Stenberg died on 6 July 1987.

Works

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stenberg, Elli 1903 births 1987 deaths Communist Party of Finland politicians Finnish People's Democratic League politicians Finnish prisoners and detainees Members of the Parliament of Finland (1945–1948) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1948–1951) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1951–1954) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1954–1958) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1958–1962) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1962–1966) People convicted of treason against Finland People from Häme Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Political prisoners in Finland Politicians from Tampere Women members of the Parliament of Finland

Early life

Politics and imprisonment

Return to politics

Works

See also

References