The Senate of Finland (; ) combined the functions of cabinet and
supreme court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
in 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 ...
from 1816 to 1917 and in independent
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, ...
from 1917 to 1918.
The body that would become the Senate was established on August 18, 1809, when
Tsar
Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
Alexander I of Russia
Alexander I (, ; – ), nicknamed "the Blessed", was Emperor of Russia from 1801, the first king of Congress Poland from 1815, and the grand duke of Finland from 1809 to his death in 1825. He ruled Russian Empire, Russia during the chaotic perio ...
Diet
Diet may refer to:
Food
* Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group
* Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake
** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...
to draw up regulations for a Government Council.Jutikkala, Eino and Pirinen, Kauko. ''A History of Finland''. Dorset Press, 1988 p. 162. In 1816, Alexander renamed this body the ''Senate'' to demonstrate that it was equal to rather than inferior to its Russian equivalent.Jutikkala, Eino and Pirinen, Kauko. ''A History of Finland''. Dorset Press, 1988 p. 163.
The Senate was headed by the
Governor-General of Finland
The governor-general of Finland was the military commander and the highest administrator of Finland sporadically Finland under Swedish rule, under Swedish rule in the 17th and 18th centuries and continuously in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finl ...
. The members of the Senate had to be Finnish citizens. The Senate was divided into the economic division and the judicial division. In 1822 both divisions were given a Finnish vice-chairman. From 1858 and onwards the members of the senate were formally known as ''senators.'' After the
February Revolution
The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
in Russia the Vice Chairman of the Economic Division became the Chairman of the Senate. Due to the
Civil War
A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...
in 1918 the Senate was relocated to the town of
Vaasa
Vaasa (; , ), formerly (1855-1917) known as Nikolaistad (; ),Cabinet and the judicial division became the
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
and the Supreme Administrative Court of the independent Finland. The vice chairman of the economic division became the
Prime Minister of Finland
The prime minister of Finland (; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and his or her cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol after the president ...
, and the other senators became ministers. Finland became a republic in 1919.
Vice Chairman of the Economic Division (1822–1917)
*
Carl Erik Mannerheim
Count Carl Erik Mannerheim (14 December 1759 – 15 January 1837) was a Swedish–Finnish soldier, statesman and member of the Senate of Finland as its first Vice Chairman of the Economic Division, an office corresponding to that of the ...
Anders Wirenius
Anders Wirenius (29 April 1850 – 29 August 1919) was a Finland, Finnish politician. Born in Saint Petersburg, he was twice vice-chairman of the Home Office of the Senate of Finland in 1909 and in 1917, and was acting chairman of the Senate f ...
, (1909)
*
Vladimir Ivanovich Markov
Vladimir Ivanovitch Markoff ''(Markov)'' (26 July 1859 Hamina – August 1919 Saint Petersburg) was a Finnish Lieutenant General who was also the vice-chairman of the economic division ( Prime minister) of the Senate of Finland from 1909 to 1913 ...
, (1909–1913)
*
Mikhail Borovitinov
Mikhail Borovitinov (, 2 August 1874 in Saint Petersburg, 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, a ...
, (1913–1917)
*
Anders Wirenius
Anders Wirenius (29 April 1850 – 29 August 1919) was a Finland, Finnish politician. Born in Saint Petersburg, he was twice vice-chairman of the Home Office of the Senate of Finland in 1909 and in 1917, and was acting chairman of the Senate f ...
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
Form ...
(1917)
*
Eemil Nestor Setälä
Eemil Nestor Setälä (; 27 February 1864 – 8 February 1935) was a Finnish politician who served as Chairman of the Senate of Finland from September 1917 to November 1917, when he was author of the Finnish Declaration of Independence.
Setäl ...
,
Young Finnish Party
The Young Finnish Party or Constitutional-Fennoman Party ( or ) was a liberal and nationalist political party in the Grand Duchy of Finland. It began as an upper-class reformist movement during the 1870s and formed as a political party in 1894.
...
(1917)
*
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad (, 15 December 1861 – 29 February 1944) was the third president of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Grand Duchy of Finland, which was at that time an autonomous s ...
, Young Finnish Party (1917–1918)
*
Juho Kusti Paasikivi
Juho Kusti Paasikivi (, 27 November 1870 – 14 December 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the seventh president of Finland from 1946 to 1956. Representing the Finnish Party until its dissolution in 1918 and then the National Coaliti ...
,
Finnish Party
The Finnish Party () was a Fennoman conservative political party in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland and independent Finland. Born out of Finland's language strife in the 1860s, the party sought to improve the position of the Finnish langu ...
(1918)
See also
*
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 ...
*
Governor-General of Finland
The governor-general of Finland was the military commander and the highest administrator of Finland sporadically Finland under Swedish rule, under Swedish rule in the 17th and 18th centuries and continuously in the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finl ...