Lauri Kristian Relander

Relander was born in Kurkijoki, in Karelia, the son of Evald Kristian Relander, an agronomist, and Gertrud Maria Olsoni. He was christened Lars Kristian (Finland Swedish: [lɑːrs ˈkristi(j)ɑn]), but he Finnicized his forenames to Lauri Kristian (Finnish: [ˈlɑu̯ri ˈkristiɑn]) during his time at school. Relander followed in his father's footsteps by enrolling at the University of Helsinki in 1901 to study agronomy. He gained his first bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1905, and his second, in agronomy, the following year. That year also saw his marriage to Signe Maria Österman (1886–1962). They had two children, Maja-Lisa (1907–1990) and Ragnar (1910–1970).

The major subjects for Relander's master's degree, which he gained in 1907, were agricultural chemistry and agricultural economics. After obtaining his degree, Relander worked from 1908 to 1917 as a researcher at a state agricultural experimental institution, carrying out some important research in his field. He also continued his studies, gaining his Doctorate in 1914. However, his attempts at this time to gain a lectureship at the University of Helsinki failed. At this time Relander was also politically active in the Agrarian League. He was elected to Parliament in 1910, serving until 1913, and again from 1917 to 1920. By 1917, he had become one of the leaders of the party.

After independence, his political career went well. He was a prominent member of his party and served on a number of parliamentary committees. Relander was elected as Speaker of the Eduskunta for its 1919 session and part of its 1920 session. Later that year, he was appointed Governor of the Province of Viipuri. However, in the 1920s he did not have enough support in his own party to become a minister.

In 1925, Relander was nominated as his party's candidate for that year's presidential election, which was confirmed only days before election day. Relander was only 41 at the time, and his nomination came as a surprise. It was further guaranteed by the fact that some of the party's key figures, such as Santeri Alkio and Kyösti Kallio, declined to stand.

Relander was elected in the third ballot of the electoral college, defeating the National Progressive Party candidate Risto Ryti by 172 votes to 109. He was elected largely due to the fact that he attracted less opposition than Risto Ryti. According to some contemporaries, at least the Swedish People's Party electors more eagerly voted for Relander because his wife happened to be a Finland Swede. That story may be partly apocryphal because also Ryti had a Finland-Swedish wife. On the other hand, Ryti had campaigned as a "Finnish peasant's son." Strong right-wing opposition to the outgoing Progressive (liberal) President K. J. Ståhlberg, Ryti's membership in the same party, and at least some career politicians' desire for a more approachable and less independent President may partly explain Relander's victory.

Two other important factors should be mentioned. Relander was an active member of the "Suojeluskunta" (Civil Guard) voluntary military organization, and he accepted the right-wing worldview typical of White veterans of the Civil War clearly more wholeheartedly than Ryti. Also as people, Relander and Ryti were notably different: despite having a doctorate, Relander was much more talkative and social than the intellectual and thoughtful Ryti.[3][4][5][6][7]

Relander and President of Latvia Jānis Čakste during Relander's 1926 official visit to Latvia. In the background, the Foreign Minister of Finland Eemil Nestor Setälä to the right.

As President, Relander was politically inexperienced and young. Politicians and other opinion leaders could not take him seriously. Relander had no political base to speak of, and he was deemed to have no particular program for his presidency,[2] which further decreased his support. Even Relander's continual state visits and trips drew criticism, leading to him gaining the nickname of Reissu-Lasse (Travelling Lasse). He was continually compared to Ståhlberg and his performance as president, which was the almost complete opposite of Relander. Ståhlberg, of course, did not appreciate his successor at all but would have preferred to have seen Ryti as his successor; when Relander was elected, he muttered:

May those take care of him who have hired him for it.[8]

The cabinets during his term tended to be weak, short-lived minority cabinets, like in most European democracies of the time. All in all, Relander is remembered as a weak leader. On the other hand, Relander was an idealist, deplored the toughness of political game and preferred minority governments of supposedly excellent individuals over majority governments of unprincipled individuals.[6]

Relander can not be considered a strong president, but he did a few notable things during his single term. He allowed the Social Democrats to form a minority government (1926–1927), appointed Finland's first female cabinet minister, Miina Sillanpää (as Assistant Minister of Social Welfare), dissolved Parliament twice (in 1929 over a dispute on the civil servants' salaries and in 1930 to have the Parliament outlaw the Communist Party, which required a constitutional amendment and thus a two-thirds majority), and generally supported the far-right Lapua Movement until it started to kidnap various political opponents. Relander himself considered his worst mistake to be shaking hands with the leader of the movement, Vihtori Kosola, in connection with a peasant march in the summer of 1930, which was considered to be a good example of Relander's indiscretion.[2] He maintained a rather close friendship with the Social Democratic leader, Väinö Tanner.[4]

Relander relaxing in Kultaranta, a summer residence of the Finnish presidents

In the late autumn of 1930, Relander realized he would not be re-elected and during the winter of 1930–31 sabotaged the prospects of his former Agrarian League colleague and rival Kyösti Kallio so that Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, Relander's former Prime Minister, was elected. In Relander's opinion, Kallio did not talk straight to him and schemed behind his back to weaken his presidency and help his political opponents. In Kallio's opinion, Relander was a rather inexperienced politician who had high ideals but not enough common sense to implement them.[4][5][6][9] As it is, the dispute between Relander and Kallio was due to personal chemistry and political line differences, as Relander, for example, was more positive about right-wing radicalism, a nationalist movement like the Lapua Movement, which marked his presidency so badly that his own party representatives were not worth defending. Even later, the battle for the party was later personified by Kallio and J. E. Sunila, the latter of whom was supported by Relander.[2]

After his term as president, he served from 1931 to 1942 as the General Manager of Suomen maalaisten paloapuyhdistys, a fire insurance company for rural people.[10] Relander died on 9 February, 1942 of heart failure.[2] He was buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery.

Relander's 100th Birthday Celebratory postage Stamp from 1983

The Relander Square (Relanderinaukio) in Helsinki's Kulosaari was named after Relander in 1959.[11] An abstract Relander Memorial sculpture by Matti Peltokangas was erected on Helsinki's Hesperia Esplanade in 1996.[12][13]

Media related to Lauri Kristian Relander at Wikimedia Commons

• Finnish national biography
• Lauri Kristian Relander at Find a Grave
• Newspaper clippings about Lauri Kristian Relander in the 20th Century Press Archives of the ZBW
• L. K. Relander in The Presidents of Finland