Eino Rudolf Woldemar Holsti (8 October 1881 in

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

– 3 August 1945 in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

) was a Finnish politician, journalist and diplomat. He was the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

in 1919–1922 and in 1936–1938 and a member of the Finnish Parliament in 1913–1918 representing the Young Finnish Party (''Nuorsuomalainen Puolue'').

Biography

From 1919 he represented the National Progressive Party. Holsti represented Finland in the

League of Nations The League of Nations (LN or LoN; , SdN) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference (1919–1920), Paris Peace ...

. He was also a republican (opposing the then ongoing movement for monarchy in Finland). A firm supporter of democracy, he openly criticized

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

at the outbreak of war. He held a pro-British political stance. Holsti worked for newspapers in

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; ; ; or ''Croneburgum'') is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Kanta-Häme. It is located in the southern interior of the country and on the shores of Vanajavesi, Lake Vanajavesi. The population of Hämeenlinna is appr ...

Lahti Lahti (; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Päijät-Häme. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Lahti is approximately , while the Lahti sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is the mo ...

and Helsinki together with his friend and school companion Joel Lehtonen. The friendship ended abruptly when Holsti recognized himself as the satirically portrayed and fictive politician Rolf Idell in Lehtonen's book ''Sorron lapset'' (1924). Holsti was also Envoy to

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

from 1923 to 1927. Later in life, Holsti taught at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, after he moved to

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

with his two sons: Kalevi and Olavi Holsti (both respected political scientists in their own right). He maintained a healthy correspondence with president

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st president of the United States, serving from 1929 to 1933. A wealthy mining engineer before his presidency, Hoover led the wartime Commission for Relief in Belgium and ...

, and the prime minister and president of Finland. He died on 3 August 1945 at Palo Alto Hospital while undergoing surgery to repair a hernia. His wife Liisa died of tuberculosis on 22 July 1951.

Honorary degrees

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

, Philadelphia, USA (PhD. h.c) in 1938Rudolf Holsti at the Parliament of Finland Archive
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References

Citations

Bibliography

* Pietiäinen, Jukka-Pekka; Rudolf Holsti, Lehtimies, tiedemies, poliitikko 1881- 1919, Weilin+Göös 1986 .

External links

* * 1881 births 1945 deaths Politicians from Jyväskylä People from Vaasa Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Young Finnish Party politicians National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians Finnish senators Ministers for foreign affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1913–1916) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1916–1917) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1917–1919) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1922–1924) Permanent representatives of Finland to the League of Nations University of Helsinki alumni Stanford University faculty Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class Finnish expatriates in the United States 20th-century Finnish journalists {{NationalProgressivePartyFinland-politician-stub