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Matti Turkia

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Matti Turkia
Member of theParliament of Finland
In office
21 October 1930 – 5 April 1945
ConstituencyUusimaa Province
In office
2 February 1914 – 3 April 1917
ConstituencyViipuri Province West
In office
22 May 1907 – 31 May 1909
ConstituencyViipuri Province West
Secretary of theSocial Democratic Party
In office
1906–1918
Preceded byYrjö Sirola
Succeeded byTaavi Tainio
Personal details
Born(1871-02-26)26 February 1871
Viipuri municipality,Russian Empire
Died10 January 1946(1946-01-10)(aged 74)
Helsinki,Finland
Political partySocial Democratic Party of Finland
OccupationNewspaper editor

Matti Turkia(26 February 1871 – 10 January 1946) was aFinnishnewspaper editor, politician and member of theParliament of Finland,the nationallegislatureof Finland. A member of theSocial Democratic Party(SDP), he representedUusimaa Provincebetween October 1930 and April 1945.[1]He had previously representedViipuri Province Westfrom May 1907 to May 1909 and from February 1914 to April 1917.[1]He wassecretaryof the SDP from 1906 to 1918.[1]

Turkia was a member of the revolutionaryFinnish People's Delegationduring theFinnish Civil Warin 1918. Following theReddefeat he lived in exile inSoviet RussiaandSweden.He returned to Finland in 1927 and was imprisoned before receiving a presidential pardon.

Early life

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Turkia was born on 26 February 1871 inViipuri municipalityin the south-east of theGrand Duchy of Finland.[1][2]He was the son ofcrofterEsaias Turkia and Helena Kristiina Pekkala.[3]The family moved to Halla nearKotkawhere Esaias Turkia worked in the localsawmill.[3][4]After attendingpublic school,Turkia, aged 12, started working at the Halla sawmill in 1883.[3][4]

Turkia became attracted tosocialismafter witnessing the poorworking conditionsat the Halla sawmill.[3]He joined theFinnish Labour Partyin 1895 and was involved in organising astrikeat the sawmil in 1898.[3][5]The mill owners fired the strike organisers and conspired with other employers in the Kotka region toblacklistthem.[3]Despite this, and the use ofstrikebreakers,the strikers were successful in having their demands met.[3]Child labourat the mill was discontinued, the working day was reduced by two hours from 13½ hours to 11½ hours and wages were increased by up to 50%.[3]The mill owners did not however re-instate Turkia, whom they considered to be aradical.[3]

Between 1898 and 1901 Turkia worked in more than 30 different places in Finland, including as a sawmill and wood worker.[1][3]He was amachinistat a carpentry factory inHietalahti, Helsinkibetween 1901 and 1903.[1][2]

Activism

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By 1904 Turkia had established a workers organisation that was procuring weapons, distributing banned literature, organising anti-Russian assassinations and assistingRussian revolutionaries.[3]The group had 5,000 members by 1905 and was credited with the assassination of RussiangendarmerieLieutenant Colonel Vladimir Kramarenko.[3]Turkia also traveled around Finland establishing local activist organisations.[3]In this context, he was happy to work withbourgeoisieactivists.[3]

Turkia became a supporter of thetemperance movementafter witnessing the effects of alcohol on workers.[3]He was the Kotka representative at the 1899 drinking strike meeting inUusikaupunki.[3]It was there that he met Selma Parkkisen (1875–1943), the representative fromHelsinki.[3]Turkia and Parkkisen married in 1900.[6][7]They had three children: Anna (b. 1902), Aune (b. 1905) and Aino (Salo) (b. 1906).[3]

Journalism and politics

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Turkia started writing articles for magazines in 1895.[3]He waseditorofItä-Suomen Työmiesin 1901.[1]He was a collector of notices forTyömieen,Velikulta,Helsingin SanomatandKylväjä(1903–1904).[1]He was editor of theKansan LehtiinTampere(1905) andEteenpäinmagazine in Kotka (1905–1906).[1][2]

In 1906 Turkia was electedsecretaryof theSocial Democratic Party(SDP), a position he held until 1918.[1][3]He came under pressure at the 1909 SDP conference following theembezzlementof party funds bytreasurerEmil Perttilä,who had fled toCape Town.[3]At the 1911 SDP conference,Otto Wille Kuusinencriticised Turkia for the declining party membership.[3]Turkia wanted to resign but continued in the role as neither Kuusinen norOskari Tokoiwanted the job.[3]A similar thing happened two years later.[3]Turkia was elected to theParliament of Finlandat the1907 parliamentary election.[8][9]He was re-elected at the1908and1913parliamentary elections.[10][11]

Civil war and exile

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In May 1917 Turkia metVladimir Lenin,who promised to supportFinnish independence.[3]Turkia, together withEdvard GyllingandK. H. Wiik,had argued againstrevolutionbut considered it inevitable.[3]By the autumn on 1917 Turkia was advocating the establishment of a workers guard as he considered thepolice reservesto be acapitalistguard.[3]He was against calling the workers guard asRed Guardas it would alarm the public and wanted the guards armed.[3]He wascommander-in-chiefof the guards in October/November 1917 and during thegeneral strike.[3]

Following theFinnish Revolution,Turkia resigned as party secretary and was appointed asProcuratorin theFinnish People's Delegation(the revolutionary government) on 28 January 1918.[3][12][13]He was also appointed to the Supreme Leading Committee of the Red Guards (the army of the revolutionary government).[1]One of his first tasks as procurator was to investigate the death of MPAntti Mikkola.[3]Although several culprits were identified, the rapid progress of theFinnish Civil Warmeant that the revolutionary government didn't have time to punish the culprits.[3]

In March/April 1918 revolutionary government chairmanKullervo Mannersent Turkia toPetrogradto seek assistance for the Red Guards.[3]Following theReddefeat in May 1918 Turkia stayed inSoviet Russiawhere he was a member of the Finnish Labor Executive Committee.[1][3]He was unwillingly embroiled in recurring conflicts between exiled Finnish revolutionaries.[3]Unable to speakRussian,he was dependent on his compatriots.[3]

In the summer of 1922, Turkia and his family were able to cross back into Finland on the fourth attempt.[3]The family went fromViipurito Tampere and on toSwedenwhere Turkia successfully applied forcitizenship.[3]The family soon returned to Finland but Turkia remained inStockholmwhere he edited theSocial-Demokratenfrom 1922 to 1927.[1][3]He also wrote forKansan Lehti,RaivaajaandNykyaikausing thepen nameEmigrantti.[3]

Return to Finland, imprisonment and politics

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Turkia returned to Finland on 16 August 1927 and reported to the police in Helsinki.[14][15]He wassentencedto 8½ years in prison.[1][16]He received apresidential pardonon 10 February 1928 and had his citizenship andcivic rightsrestored despite the opposition of theSupreme Court.[17][18]He was released fromTammisaari concentration campon 13 February 1928.[19][20]

Turkia was editor ofSuomen Sosialidemokraattifrom 1928 to 1932.[1][3]He was re-elected to theParliament of Finlandat the1930 parliamentary election.[21][22]He was re-elected at the1933,1936and1939parliamentary elections.[23][24][25]

Turkia was a presidential elector at the1931,1937,1940and1943presidential elections.[1][3]He was a member of theCity Council of Helsinki.[1][3]He was on the executive committee of the SDP and was president of the party's local branch inUusimaa Province.[1]He was on the board ofleft-wingpublisher Kustannus Oy Kansanvalta.[1]

Turkia died on 10 January 1946 in Helsinki.[1][3]

Works

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  • Kansa vaatimaan kunnallislakien uudistusta!: herrat vehkeilevät sitä vastaan!.Sosialidemokratinen eduskuntaryhmä. 1908.[26]
  • Kertoelmia kommunistivallan mailta(PDF).Tampere, Finland: Tampereen työväen sanomalehti o. y. 1924.[4][27]
  • Kommunismin kokeilukentiltä: elämyksiä ja näkemyksiä Neuvosto-Venäjältä(PDF).Tampere, Finland: Tampereen työväen sanomalehti o. y. 1924.[4][28]
  • Tiutisen työväenyhdistys 30-vuotias.Tiutisen työväenyhdistys. 1928.[29]
  • Kärsimysten teiltä(PDF).Hämeenlinna, Finland: Osakeyhtiö Hämeen kansa. 1928.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrst"Kansanedustajat: Matti Turkia"(in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland:Parliament of Finland.Archived fromthe originalon 25 July 2020.Retrieved27 December2023.
  2. ^abcPunaset I: sosialidemokratisten edustajien kuvat ja elämäkerrat 1907-1909(in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland: Työväen Sanomalehti O.Y. 1909. p. 77.Retrieved28 December2023– viaHelsinki University Library.
  3. ^abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzaaabacadaeafagahaiajakalamanaoapaqarHanski, Jari (22 February 1999)."Turkia, Matti (1871 - 1946)".Suomen kansallisbiografia(in Finnish). Helsinki. Finland: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura.Retrieved28 December2023– via Biografiasampo.
  4. ^abcde"Matti Turkia"(in Finnish).Marxists Internet Archive.Retrieved28 December2023.
  5. ^"Dödsfall: Matti Turkia död".Åbo Underrättelser(in Swedish). No. 11. Turku, Finland. 13 January 1946. p. 3.Retrieved28 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  6. ^"Ilmoituksia Helsingin suomalais-ruotsalaisesta seurakunnasta: Avioliittoon kuulutettuja".Työmies(in Finnish). No. 129. Helsinki, Finland. 6 June 1900. p. 4.Retrieved28 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  7. ^"Kirkollisia ilmoituksia: Helsingin suomalais-ruotsalaisesta seurakunnasta - Kuulotettuja".Uusi Suometar(in Finnish). No. 145. Helsinki, Finland. 5 June 1900. pp. 7–8.Retrieved28 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  8. ^"Tiedoksipano".Viipuri(in Finnish). No. 75. Viipuri, Finland. 3 April 1907. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  9. ^"Tiedoksipano".Työ(in Finnish). No. 76. Viipuri, Finland. 4 April 1907. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  10. ^"Edustajiksi Wiipurin läänin läntisestä waalipiiristä".Eteenpäin(in Finnish). No. 74. Kotka, Finland. 11 July 1908. p. 2.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  11. ^"Uuden eduskunnan kokoonpano".Helsingin Sanomat(in Finnish). No. 185. Helsinki, Finland. 12 August 1913. p. 3.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  12. ^"Finlands rewolutionära regering".Työmies(in Swedish). No. 27. Helsinki, Finland. 29 January 1918. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  13. ^"Suomen Wallankumoushallitus".Sosialisti(in Finnish). No. 22. Turku, Finland. 29 January 1918. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  14. ^"Matti Turkia åter hemma".Arbetarbladet(in Swedish). No. 94. Helsinki, Finland. 17 August 1927. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  15. ^"Puoluetoveri Matti Turkia Suomeen".Eteenpäin(in Finnish). No. 92. Kotka, Finland. 17 August 1927. p. 2.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  16. ^"Turkia, Matti".Uppslagsverket Finland(in Swedish). Helsinki, Finland:Svenska Folkskolans Vänner.Retrieved28 December2023.
  17. ^"Matti Turkia armahdettu".Suomen Sosialidemokraatti(in Finnish). No. 40. Helsinki, Finland. 10 February 1928. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  18. ^"Matti Turkia armahdettu".Keski-Uusimaa(in Finnish). No. 11. Tuusula, Finland. 11 February 1928. p. 3.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  19. ^"Toveri Matti Turkia Helsingissä".Suomen Sosialidemokraatti(in Finnish). No. 44. Helsinki, Finland. 14 February 1928. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  20. ^"Matti Turkia blev fri på måndagen".Arbetarbladet(in Swedish). No. 19. Helsinki, Finland. 15 February 1928. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  21. ^"Sosialidemokraatit valtasivat".Kansan Lehti(in Finnish). No. 231. Tampere, Finland. 8 October 1930. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  22. ^"Sos.demokrootit eivät saaneet määrävähemmistöä".Aamulehti(in Finnish). No. 272. Tampere, Finland. 9 October 1930. p. 6.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  23. ^"Valituksi tulleet edustajat koko maassa".Helsingin Sanomat(in Finnish). No. 179. Helsinki, Finland. 9 July 1933. p. 4.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  24. ^"Den nya soc.-dem. riksdagsgruppen".Arbetarbladet(in Swedish). No. 74. Helsinki, Finland. 6 July 1936. p. 1.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  25. ^"Uuden eduskunnan kokoonpano".Helsingin Sanomat(in Finnish). No. 179. Helsinki, Finland. 8 July 1939. p. 2.Retrieved29 December2023– viaNational Library of Finland.
  26. ^"Kansa vaatimaan kunnallislakien uudistusta!: herrat vehkeilevät sitä vastaan!".Fennica: Finnish national bibliography.National Library of Finland.Retrieved28 December2023.
  27. ^"Kertoelmia kommunistivallan mailta".Fennica: Finnish national bibliography.National Library of Finland.Retrieved28 December2023.
  28. ^"Kommunismin kokeilukentiltä: elämyksiä ja näkemyksiä Neuvosto-Venäjältä".Fennica: Finnish national bibliography.National Library of Finland.Retrieved28 December2023.
  29. ^"Tiutisen työväenyhdistys 30-vuotias".Fennica: Finnish national bibliography.National Library of Finland.Retrieved28 December2023.
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