A historian who linked scholarship with social democracy
In Moscow in 1940, he signed the peace treaty that ended the Winter War.
Väinö Voionmaa was a Finnish historian, professor and Social Democratic politician who helped shape the early republic. He founded institutions for workers’ education and joined scholarship to popular political work through parliament, diplomacy and social policy. As a Social Democratic member of Finland’s delegation to the Moscow Peace Treaty negotiations in 1940, he signed the settlement that ended the Winter War, embodying the difficult compromises imposed on Finland between war and great-power politics.
Career Timeline
- 1894Earned a doctorate in history at the University of Helsinki
- 1903–1918Docent in Nordic history at the University of Helsinki
- 1917Member of the economic division of the Tokoi Senate and head of the transport commission
- 1919–1947Social Democratic member of the Parliament of Finland
- 1920Member of Finland’s delegation to the Tartu peace negotiations
- 1926–1927Minister for Foreign Affairs
- 1937–1939Minister of Trade and Industry, acting Minister for Foreign Affairs in 1938
- 1940Finnish delegate and signatory to the Moscow Peace Treaty