Vihtori Kosola

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Vihtori Kosola
Born
Iisakki Vihtori Kosola

(1884-07-10)July 10, 1884
Ylihärmä
Died(1936-12-14)December 14, 1936
Lapua
NationalityFinnish
Occupation(s)Politician, farmer
Political partyLapua Movement
Other political
affiliations		Patriotic People's Movement
SpouseElin Olga Katariina Lahdensuo (married 1908–1936)
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Iisakki Vihtori Kosola (10 July 1884 – 14 December 1936) was a Finnish politician, activist and a farmer who served as the leader of the far-right and anti-communist Lapua Movement political party, and later as the leader of the Patriotic People's Movement political party in Finland.[1]

Life

Early life

Kosola was born in

Southern Ostrobothnia to a peasant family, he was the eldest child of eight children from his father's second marriage.[2] His family's farmhouse burnt down the next year, and the family moved to Lapua, buying a house at Liuhtarinkylä.[3] His formative years were spent in farming and cattle-breeding following his father's death when Kosola was 17 years old.[2]

Political activism

During the

debate society called Lazy Society in 1902.[2]

Kosola was an active recruiter of

Russian Revolution and eagerly took part in the Finnish Civil War against the Red Guards and the Russians. After the war Kosola led the Lapua White Guard. He also joined the Agrarian League
.

In the 1920s he organized

Mäntsälä Rebellion
of 1932 that ended with the dissolution and banning of the Lapua Movement and the brief imprisonment of Kosola.

Kosola was chosen as president of the Lapua Movement's successor, the

Patriotic People's Movement (IKL), but as the Movement became more political, Kosola had less time to participate in its affairs in Helsinki. Kosola's political career ended in 1936, when he was deposed from IKL's leadership; he was considered more of a liability than an asset by IKL. Contemporary accounts describe Kosola after being freed from jail as a tired and sick man who drank alcohol to deal with the stress. He was also in excessive debt and his farm was subject to foreclosure and auction. He died of pneumonia in December 1936. Kosola's first son, Niilo, bought the farm and was eventually elected as an MP and briefly as a government minister. Kosola's second son, Pentti, was imprisoned for murdering a political opponent. Pentti fought in the Winter War (1939–40) as a fighter pilot, but was killed in action.[4]

Kosola's radical right-wing politics caused a common saying in the 1930s: "Heil Hitler, meil Kosola," accented Finnish for "They've got Hitler, we've got Kosola". Sometimes also a third stanza, "muil Mussolini" (the others have Mussolini) was added. Kosola had a sobriquet Kosolini after his charismatic and vivid style of speech similar to

fascist dictator of Finland.[5]

Works

References

  1. ^ "Etusivu". kansallisbiografia.fi. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-951-0-40132-3
    .
  3. ISBN 978-951-0-07785-6
    .
  4. ^ Iltalehti Teema Historia: Lapuan liike, Alma Media, 2015, pp. 34–35.[ISBN missing]
  5. ^ "New Finnish Dictator Is Dubbed 'Kosolini' Because of Resemblance to Italian Duce". The New York Times. August 10, 1930. Retrieved January 23, 2020.
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