Kyösti Kallio

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Kyösti Kallio

4th President of Finland
In office March 1, 1937 – November 27, 1940
Preceded by	Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Succeeded by	Risto Ryti

Born	April 10, 1873, Ylivieska
Died	December 19, 1940, Helsinki
Political party	Agrarian League

Statue of K. Kallio in Helsinki

Kyösti Kallio [IPA: kyøsti kallio] (April 10, 1873 – December 19, 1940) was the fourth President of Finland (1937-1940). He was a prominent leader of the Agrarian League, and had previously been Prime Minister four times.

Kyösti (originally Gustaf) Kallio was born in Ylivieska, Finland. His father was a farmer and a prominent local politician. Kallio served in the Diet of Finland 1904-1906 as a member of the Estate of the Peasantry. He joined the newly founded Agrarian Party in 1906 and became one of its prominent leaders. He became an agrarian minister in the Senates of Oskari Tokoi, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud and Juho Kusti Paasikivi. During the Civil War in Finland, he hid in Red-dominated Helsinki, because he was at least nominally on the White side and therefore a "class enemy"; he formed a new senate in Helsinki after German troops had defeated the Reds in the city. Afterwards he became a moderate peace-maker and disapproved of retaliation against the Reds.

During the debates over the form of the new state in 1918, Kallio resigned from the Senate because he supported a republic instead of constitutional monarchy. Eventually, the monarchist stand lost and he returned to the Cabinet to become Prime Minister. He was a reformist who emphasized education, settlement and land reform. His greatest achievement was "Lex Kallio" in 1922, a legislation allowing the state to buy land to encourage new settlements. On the other hand, he did support Prohibition in Finland, and was dismayed when it was repealed in 1932.

Kallio was an anti-communist, suppressing the Finnish Communist Party (SKP) in 1923, but he resorted to legislative methods. When the violent right-wing Lapua Movement asked him to become their leader, he refused and was instead subjected to their death threats.

Kallio was elected president with the votes of conservative and social democratic coalition that wanted to ensure that President Svinhufvud would not be re-elected. Kallio took a role of a parliamentarian president and avoided use of his personal power.

In the eve of Winter War, when Mannerheim once again threatened to resign due to schism with the Cabinet, Kallio convinced him to stay. During the war he resisted the idea of giving up any territory to the Soviet Union, but was forced to agree to sign the Moscow Peace Treaty in 1940. His health begun to fail – his right arm was paralyzed – and he was not active in the dealings with Germany leading to the Continuation War. On August 28 he suffered a serious stroke, and the Prime Minister Risto Ryti took over his duties.

Kallio resigned formally on November 27, 1940, prior to the Continuation War. He was going to Nivala to his farm after the farewell ceremonies, when he collapsed and died at the Helsinki railway station, before the guard of honor and, as legend says, in the arms of Marshal Mannerheim.

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Preceded by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud	President of Finland 1937–1940	Succeeded by Risto Ryti
Preceded by Aimo Cajander	Prime Minister of Finland 1922–1924	Succeeded by Aimo Cajander
Preceded by Antti Tulenheimo	Prime Minister of Finland 1925–1926	Succeeded by Väinö Tanner
Preceded by Oskari Mantere	Prime Minister of Finland 1929–1930	Succeeded by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
Preceded by Toivo Mikael Kivimäki	Prime Minister of Finland 1936–1937	Succeeded by Aimo Cajander

Presidents of Finland
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg • Lauri Kristian Relander • Pehr Evind Svinhufvud • Kyösti Kallio • Risto Ryti • Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim • Juho Kusti Paasikivi • Urho Kekkonen • Mauno Koivisto • Martti Ahtisaari • Tarja Halonen