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Hertta Kuusinen

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Hertta Kuusinen in East Berlin on the 3rd congress of the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (1950)

Hertta Elina Kuusinen (February 14, 1904, Luhanka – March 18, 1974, Moscow)[1] was a Finnish Communist politician. She was a member of the central committee (1944-1971) and the political bureau of the Communist Party of Finland; member of Finland's parliament, the Eduskunta (1945–1972); general secretary (1952–1958); and leader of the parliamentary group of the Finnish People's Democratic League. In 1948, Kuusinen became only the second woman to serve as a Finnish cabinet minister.[2] She was the daughter of Soviet politician and one-time Finnish communist leader Otto Ville Kuusinen.[3]

Hertta Kuusinen with Mikhail Suslov.

Hertta Kuusinen moved to the Soviet Union after her father in the 1920s. She worked for Comintern beginning in 1922, witnessed Hitler's rise in Germany 1932–1933,[1] and taught in the International Lenin School 1933–1934. Kuusinen returned to Finland in 1934 to work underground for the illegal communist party. Instead she ended up in prison for over ten years.

The political climate in Finland changed after World War II. Kuusinen was released; and in the first post-war elections held in 1945, she was elected to the Eduskunta from the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL) list.[4] She was General Secretary of the SKDL from 1952 to 1958, when the SKDL became the largest party in the Eduskunta with 50 of 200 seats. She was a member of Parliament until 1972, and also held the record in personal votes (58 770 / 1948) received in parliamentary elections that stood until the 2007 election.[5] Between 1969 and 1974, Kuusinen served as the chairperson of the Women's International Democratic Federation.[6]

Kuusinen was married to communist politicians Tuure Lehén (1923–1933) and Yrjö Leino (1945–1950).[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hertta Kuusinen Eduskunta 2009
  2. ^ Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - The 'Red Lady of Finland,'" Science and Society, Vol. 70, No. 1, January 2006: 46-71
  3. ^ Kimmo Rentola, "Finnish communism, O.W. Kuusinen, and their Two Native Countries in Communism, National & International." SHS. Studia Historica 58. Helsinki 1998: 161-162
  4. ^ Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - The 'Red Lady of Finland,'" Science and Society, Vol. 70, No. 1, January 2006: 46-71
  5. ^ Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - the leading communist woman in Finland in the post-war era" "People of a special mould"? International conference on comparative communist biography and prosopography Manchester, 6th - 8th April 2001: http://www.kansanarkisto.fi/pirkkoma.htm
  6. ^ Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - The 'Red Lady of Finland,'" Science and Society, Vol. 70, No. 1, January 2006: 46-71

Further reading

  • Hertta Kuusinen Papers, Kansan arkisto (People's archive) Helsinki, Finland
  • Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - the leading communist woman in Finland in the post-war era" "People of a special mould"? International conference on comparative communist biography and prosopography Manchester, 6th - 8th April 2001
  • Pirkko Kotila, "Hertta Kuusinen - The 'Red Lady of Finland,'" Science and Society, Vol. 70, No. 1, January 2006: 46-71
  • Brita Polttila, Hertta Kuusinen - Ihmisen tie. Helsinki: Tammi, 1975


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