Johan Mårten Eliel Soisalon-Soininen (born ''Johnsson'', raised to the nobility as ''Soisalon-Soininen''; 26 May 1856 – 6 February 1905) was a

Chancellor of Justice The Chancellor of Justice is a government official found in some northern European countries, broadly responsible for supervising the lawfulness of government actions. History In 1713, the Swedish King Charles XII, preoccupied with fighting t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Soisalon-Soininen was assassinated in 1905 when a young student called Lennart Hohenthal murdered him at his apartment in Helsinki.

Early life and career

Johnsson was born in

Pielisjärvi Pielisjärvi is a former municipality in the region of North Karelia North Karelia (or ''Northern Karelia'', ; ) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Rus ...

, and graduated from the Kuopion lyseon lukio (in

Kuopio Kuopio ( , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Kuopio is approximately , while the Kuopio sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mos ...

) on 5 June 1875. He obtained his law degree in 1879. Johnsson worked in the

Vyborg Vyborg (; , ; , ; , ) is a town and the administrative center of Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of Vyborg Bay, northwest of St. Petersburg, east of the Finnish capital H ...

Courts of Appeal from 1879. He received the title of ''

varatuomari (lit. 'vice-judge' or 'reserve judge'; Swedish: ), or Master of Laws with court training, is a Finnish legal title for a qualified lawyer who has been trained on the bench and is equipped to appear before a court. The title dates back to the 1 ...

'' in 1882. Soisalon worked at the senate's justice apartment from 1900 and as Chancellor of Justice from 1901 until his death.

Assassination

In the morning at 10.30 AM a young man of a heavy build (Hohenthal) dressed as a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n officer came to Soisalon-Soininen's apartment 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 ...

. Having deceived the police posted outside, Hohenthal rang the doorbell and a valet, in fact a disguised policeman, opened the door. Hohenthal gave the valet a business card which read ''Alexander De Gadd, Lieutenant de la Garde, St. Petersbourg''. Hohenthal asked if he could meet the chancellor. The valet guided him to the chancellor's office. When Soisalon-Soininen came to the room, Hohenthal pulled a pistol and shot eight shots towards the chancellor of justice, two of which struck the chancellor in the chest and stomach. The chancellor of justice fell to the floor. Then the valet entered the room and shot at the assassin. During the exchange of fire between the assassin and policeman, the 17-year-old Johan (a.k.a. Juhani) who was the son of Soisalon-Soininen came to the room and joined the policeman in firing upon the assassin. Hohenthal shot Johan in the leg. Hohenthal also received some small injuries and surrendered. He was taken to hospital under guard.

References

External links

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Soisalon-Soininen, Eliel
at ''Uppslagsverket Finland'' (in Swedish). {{DEFAULTSORT:Soisalon-Soininen, Eliel 1856 births 1905 deaths People from Lieksa People from Kuopio Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) 20th-century Finnish nobility Finnish Party politicians Finnish senators 19th-century Finnish lawyers University of Helsinki alumni People murdered in Finland Deaths by firearm in Finland Swedish-speaking Finns Assassinated Finnish people Assassinated judges People assassinated in the 20th century