Aarre Simonen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Aarre Simonen (around 1960)

Aarre Edvard Simonen (born November 18, 1913 in Helsingfors , † February 3, 1977 in Helsinki ) was a Finnish politician of the Social Democratic Party of Finland SDP (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue) and later of the Social Democratic Federation of Workers 'and Small Peasants' TPSL ( Työvänen ja Pattienviljeliäin Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto) , who was minister of various departments several times and chairman of the TPSL between 1964 and 1970.

Life

MP and Minister

Aarre Simonen at an SDP rally (1951)

Aarre Edvard Simonen, son of Edvard Simonen and Ida Alina Haapala Hagstedt, attended Helsingin normaalilyseo , a high school in Helsinki, and then completed a law degree . In addition, he graduated from the Reserve Officer School (Reserviupseerikoulu) in 1932 and was most recently a captain of the reserve. In 1936 he was admitted to the bar and in 1943 passed the assessor examination (Varatuomari) . He was originally a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland SDP (Suomen Sosialidemokraattinen Puolue) and served in the Fagerholm I cabinet between July 29, 1948 and March 17, 1950 as Minister of the Interior (Sisäasiainministeri) . At the same time he was from March 24, 1949 to March 17, 1950 also Minister in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (Ministeri kulkulaitosministeriössä) . In the election on July 2 and 3, 1951 , he was elected for the first time for the SDP as a member of the Reichstag (Eduskunta) and was a member of this until February 19, 1962.

In the Kekkonen V cabinet , Simonen was Minister for Trade and Industry (Kauppa-ja teollisuusministeri) from October 20, 1954 to March 3, 1956 . In addition, he was briefly Minister of Justice (Oikeusministeri) between October 20, 1954 and his replacement by Weio Henriksson on November 6, 1954 . In the Fagerholm II cabinet that followed , he took over the post of Finance Minister (Valtiovarainministeri) on March 3, 1956 and held this position until May 27, 1957. In the Sukselainen I cabinet , he was both Deputy Prime Minister (Kansliaministeri) and Minister without Portfolio from September 2, 1957 to October 31, 1957 .

"Kätilöopisto" affair and chairman of the TPSL

In 1964, Aarre Simonen replaced Emil Skog as chairman of the TPSL.

Some time later, Aarre Simonen resigned from the SDP and on March 26, 1958, became chairman of a parliamentary group that had emerged from this split . From this emerged in 1959 the Social Democratic Union of Workers and Small Farmers TPSL (Työväen ja Pienviljeliäin Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto) , whose parliamentary group he remained until his replacement by Martta Salmela-Järvinen on February 19, 1962.

In the course of the so-called "Kätilöopisto" affair, a parliamentary committee of inquiry was set up against him and the two former ministers Urho Kiukas and Vilho Väyrynen . The three cabinet members were accused of contracting the bankrupt Teoranta construction company in December 1956 to build the Kätilöopisto maternity hospital in the Helsinki district of Ullanlinna and paying taxpayers' money for construction work that had not been carried out, which resulted in considerable delays in the construction of the hospital. After deliberations in the Constitutional Law Committee (Perustuslakivaliokunta) , a vote in the Reichstag on November 8, 1960 decided with a large majority that legal proceedings should be initiated against the three former ministers. On April 5, 1961, negotiations began before the Supreme Administrative Court (Korkein hallinto-oikeus) chaired by Reino Iisakki Kuuskoski . On December 14, 1961, Simonen and Väyrynen were sentenced to substantial fines, while Kiukas was acquitted.

In the fall of 1963 there were internal party conflicts within the TPSL. The party chairman Emil Skog tried repeatedly to achieve a reconciliation with the majority Social Democrats of the SDP. A breakthrough could only be achieved after Väinö Tanner was replaced by Rafael Paasio as chairman of the Social Democratic Party in 1963 . Paasio was a prominent representative of the so-called "Third Line of Social Democrats", which had been trying for years to convey the opposing viewpoints. The crucial talks began in late October 1963 and resulted in a contract signed by Skog and Paasio in February 1964. The treaty provided for the unification of the two social democratic parties and the dissolution of the TPSL. However, resistance in the left wing of the TPSL stirred against this regulation. At the party congress in the spring of 1964, Skog lost the chairmanship of the party to Aarre Simonen, who in turn postponed the execution of the reconciliation treaty. As a result, the remaining minority representatives around Skog decided to return to the SDP.

Return to government

On May 27, 1966, Aarre Simonen took over the post of Minister of Justice in the Paasio I cabinet and held it until March 22, 1968. He finally held the office of Minister of Justice between March 22, 1968 and May 14, 1970 in the Koivisto I cabinet . After leaving the government, he became a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank ( Suomen Pankki ) and was a member of it until 1976.

At the same time, Uuno Nokelainen succeeded him in 1970 as chairman of the Social Democratic Federation of Workers' and Small Farmers. After the dissolution of the TPSL, which last had the name of the Socialist Federation of Workers and Small Farmers TPSL ( Työvänen ja Pienviljelijäin Sosialistinen Liitto) since 1972 , he joined the Socialist Workers' Party STP (Sosialistinen Työvänenpuolue) in 1973 and belonged to it until his death. From his marriage to Leeni Lahja Nikkinen in 1945, the children Iiro, Kati and Mari Simonen emerged.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Cabinet Fagerholm I
  2. ↑ Cabinet Kekkonen V
  3. ^ Cabinet Fagerholm II
  4. ^ Cabinet Sukselainen I
  5. ↑ Työvänen ja Pienviljeliäin Sosialidemokraattinen Liitto: Chairmen of the parliamentary group
  6. ↑ Työväen yes pienviljelijäin Sosialidemokraattinen liitto: Chairman
  7. ↑ Paasio I's cabinet
  8. ^ Cabinet Koivisto I
personal data
SURNAME Simonen, Aarre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Simonen, Aarre Edvard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Finnish politician, member of the Reichstag
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Helsingfors
DATE OF DEATH 3rd February 1977
Place of death Helsinki