Lauri "Tahko" Pihkala (born Gummerus, 5 January 1888 – 20 May 1981) was the inventor of pesäpallo, the Finnish variant of

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

. In 1969 he became one of the first persons to receive an honorary doctorate in Sport Sciences from the

University of Jyväskylä The University of Jyväskylä ( fi, Jyväskylän yliopisto) is a research university in Jyväskylä, Finland. It has its origins in the first Finnish-speaking Teacher Training College (the so-called Teacher Seminary), founded in 1863. Ar ...

, together with president

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister ...

and Professor Kaarina Kari.

Athletics

In the 1910s he became the first Finnish professional coach in athletics, and also worked as a physical education instructor with the Finnish Army.Lauri Pihkala (1888-1981)
Suomen urheilun Hall of Fame Pihkala was known for being an avid sports fan, and he developed several outdoor games.

Other

During the

Finnish Civil War The Finnish Civil War; . Other designations: Brethren War, Citizen War, Class War, Freedom War, Red Rebellion and Revolution, . According to 1,005 interviews done by the newspaper '' Aamulehti'', the most popular names were as follows: Civil ...

he was responsible for propaganda in the White Guard flying unit "''Devils of Kuhmoinen''" of major Hans Kalm. Pihkala's brother Martti Pihkala was a right-wing political activist. Lauri Pihkala didn't write any political texts in his publications. He tried to integrate Finnish working class to the society and hoped that sports could be one tool there. Some writers claim that Pihkala should be responsible for a massacre in Harmoinen village in March 1918. This is not true. The murderers belonged to Devils of Kuhmoinen, but Pihkala was not present there. Memorial of Pihkala by sculptor Nina Sailo was unveiled in 1988 on the south-east side of the Helsinki Olympic Stadium.

References

External links

Lauri Pihkala in 375 humanists 6.1.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pihkala, Lauri 1888 births 1981 deaths People from Pihtipudas People from Vaasa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Finnish baseball players Finnish male high jumpers Finnish male discus throwers Finnish male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Finland People of the Finnish Civil War (White side) Athletes (track and field) at the 1908 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1912 Summer Olympics Olympic male high jumpers Finnish officers Sportspeople from Central Finland