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 (14 February 1904, Luhanka 18 March 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 (19451972); general secretary (19521958); 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 19321933,[1]
and taught in the International Lenin School 19331934. 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.[2] 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.[4] Between 1969 and 1974, Kuusinen
served as the chairperson of the Women's International Democratic Federation.[2]

Kuusinen was married to communist politicians Tuure Lehn (19231933) and Yrj
Leino (19451950).[1]

References[edit]
^ Jump up to a b c Hertta Kuusinen Eduskunta 2009
^ Jump up to a b c Pirkko Kotila, Hertta Kuusinen - The 'Red Lady of Finland,'
Science and Society, Vol. 70, No. 1, January 2006 46-71
Jump up ^ Kimmo Rentola, Finnish communism, O.W. Kuusinen, and their Two Native
Countries in Communism, National & International. SHS. Studia Historica 58.
Helsinki 1998 161-162
Jump up ^ 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
httpwww.kansanarkisto.fipirkkoma.htm
Further reading[edit]
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, 68 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
Authority control
WorldCat Identities VIAF 52490160 LCCN n91108905 GND 119019108
Categories 1904 births1974 deathsPeople from LuhankaPeople from Mikkeli Province
(Grand Duchy of Finland)Communist Party of Finland politicians20th-century Finnish
politiciansFinnish People's Democratic League politiciansGovernment ministers of
FinlandMembers of the Parliament of FinlandWomen government ministers of
Finland20th-century women politicians
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This page was last edited on 31 December 2016, at 1127.
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