Johannes Virolainen
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Valtioneuvos (Counselor of State) Johannes Virolainen |
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Johannes Virolainen in 1955
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| 30th Prime Minister of Finland | |
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In office 12 September 1964 – 27 May 1966 |
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| President | Urho Kekkonen |
| Deputy | Ahti Karjalainen |
| Preceded by | Reino Ragnar Lehto |
| Succeeded by | Rafael Paasio |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 31 January 1914 Viipurin maalaiskunta, Finland |
| Died | 11 December 2000 (aged 86) Lohja, Finland |
| Nationality | Finnish |
| Political party | Agrarian League/Centre Party |
| Spouse(s) | Kaarina Virolainen Kyllikki Virolainen (1981–2000) |
Johannes Virolainen (
pronunciation ) (31 January 1914 – 11 December 2000) was a Finnish politician.
Virolainen was born near Viipuri. After the Continuation War Virolainen moved to Lohja, but he remained one of the leaders of the evacuated Karelians, and never gave up the hope that Soviet Union and later Russia would return Finnish Karelia to Finland. After World War II Virolainen became the first president of the Maaseudun Nuorten Liitto later known as Finnish Centre Youth, which has been educating tens of ministers and hundreds of members of the Finnish Parliament.
He was also famous as a teetotaller, saying that the only circumstance where he would countenance downing a toast would be if Karelia was ceded back to Finland. He was fond of repeating the line, and it has been claimed that he said it to, among others, Nikita Khrushchev and Anastas Mikoyan on the Soviet side, to fend off needling by them for lacking the Soviet style of social graces.
A member of the Agrarian League (later the Centre Party), Virolainen was a Member of Parliament 1945–1983 and 1987–1991.
He had a long ministerial career, serving as Assistant Minister of the Interior 1950–1951; Minister at the Council of State Chancellery 1951, and 1956–1957; Minister of Education 1953, 1954, 1956–1957, and 1968–1970; Minister for Foreign Affairs 1954–1956, 1957, and 1958; Deputy Prime Minister 1957, 1958, 1962–1963, 1968–1970, and 1977–1979; Minister of Agriculture 1961–1962, 1962–1963; Minister of Finance 1972–1975; and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry 1976–1977 and 1977–1979.
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