Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
Jurist who shaped Finland’s republican constitution and, as its first president, sought to reconcile the defeated Reds
Born in Suomussalmi in 1865, he was a jurist and a constitutionalist of the Young Finnish Party who resisted Russification by legal means. He was senator for trade and industry in the Mechelin Senate in 1905–1907, professor of administrative law at the University of Helsinki in 1908–1918 and Speaker of Parliament in 1914. As chairman of the Constitutional Council from 1917 he led the drafting of the republican constitution, and in 1918 he backed a republic against the constitutional monarchy favoured by the victors of the civil war. Elected the first president by Parliament in July 1919, defeating Mannerheim by 143 votes to 50, he favoured peace with Soviet Russia, pardoned most of the Red prisoners and ratified the Treaty of Tartu. He did not seek re-election in 1925, was kidnapped by Lapua Movement activists in 1930 and died in 1952.
Career timeline
- 1905–1907Senator for trade and industry in the Mechelin Senate
- 1908–1918Professor of Administrative Law, University of Helsinki
- 1914Speaker of the Parliament of Finland
- 1917–1918Chairman of the Constitutional Council
- 1918First President of the Supreme Administrative Court
- 1919–1925First President of Finland