Juho Kusti Paasikivi, the seventh president of Finland, known to the world for shaping Finland’s post-war doctrine of neutrality, was a multilingual diplomat with a university degree in Russian language and literature.
A Finnish-language version of this article is available here.
Thus, on the eve of the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics, it was only appropriate for the cultured statesman to hold a speech in a world language.
English, however, was not Paasikivi’s strong suit, as French had long been the predominant language of diplomacy. Still, the president wanted to extend his greetings to foreign guests arriving in Helsinki.
Paasikivi (1870–1956) had already forged a long and prestigious political career before his presidency (1946–56), having served as chairman of the Senate and twice as prime minister. He was also Chief General Manager of the Kansallis-Osake-Pankki (KOP) bank. During Finnish autonomy, Paasikivi represented the nationalist Fennoman party and later, after independency, the National Coalition Party. Known for his irritable nature, the politician was a troublesome colleague.
