Oulu Euroopan kulttuuripääkaupunki 2026
Oulu 2026 European Capital of Culture

– Allitien kulttuurikeskus –

Yrjö Kallinen

15 June 1886, Oulujoki
–
1 January 1976, Helsinki

 A legend already in his lifetime 

Do you know a Finnish person who was sentenced to death four times, was a pacifist, and served in the Finnish government as Minister of Defence from 1946 to 1948?

Do you know anyone in the entire world with a more colorful life story? We do not even try to tell everything about Kallinen here—you can discover him for yourself.

The year 2026 marks Yrjö Kallinen’s jubilee year—140 years since his birth—and there is plenty to remember: an education counsellor with only a primary school education; a pacifist sentenced to death and later Minister of Defence; a trade union activist; secretary of the Oulu Workers’ Council; a developer of the cooperative retail movement; involved in founding the Finnish People’s Democratic League (SKDL); a Member of Parliament for the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP); chair of the Workers’ Educational Association (TSL); a board member of the United Nations Association of Finland; a member of the India–Finland Friendship Society and the Finnish-American Friendship Society; a member of the Helsinki Freethinkers; an author (over 10 works), and more.

Yrjö Kallinen will be introduced through seminars, a film, exhibitions, and events during Oulu 2026, the European Capital of Culture year. We will share more information on these pages as event dates are confirmed.

More about the history of Yrjö Kallinen:

Picture: Tekijä: Ensio Ilmonen / Lehtikuva – http://hs.mediadelivery.fi/img/1920/4f85ef59df174d5b8a8636d292b83c0f.jpg,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=76478847

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