Vihtori Kosonen (1873–1934) was a Finnish journalist, publisher, and free-thinker.[1][2]

Vihtori Kosonen in 1907

Kosonen first worked as an editor at the Työmies newspaper, which was founded in 1895.[3] In 1898, he was forced to leave Finland due to the anti-socialist policies of the Finnish government under Russian governor Nikolay Bobrikov. He fled to America, where he became an influential figure in the American–Finnish workers' movement.[4] From 1903, he was the editor of the American Työmies newspaper.[5]

Kosonen decided to return to Finland in 1905.[4] He was involved in the activities of the Social Democratic Party, and served as editor of the Kansan Lehti newspaper.[6] During the 1905 Russian revolution, Kosonen organised shelter for refugees from the Baltic region of the Russian Empire, also helped organise the December 1905 Tampere bolshevik conference.[6][2] In February 1906, he helped Latvian revolutionary Jānis Čoke, who was later revealed to have taken part in the robbery of the Russian State Bank branch in Helsinki.[6]

References edit

  1. ^ Kansan Lehti 27 June 1934, s. 2.
  2. ^ a b Kujala, Antti: ”Suomi vallankumouksen punaisena selustana”, s. 131–133 teoksessa Lenin ja Suomi – osa I. Opetusministeriö ja Valtion painatuskeskus, Helsinki 1987.
  3. ^ Työmies kymmenvuotias (PDF) (in Finnish). Hancock, Michigan: Työmies Kustannusyhtiö. 1913. pp. 8–13.
  4. ^ a b Kolehmainen, John I. (9 November 2015). "The Inimitable Marxists: The Finnish Immigrant Socialists". Suomen Sukututkimusseura.
  5. ^ Hoerder, Dirk (1987). The Immigrant Labor Press in North America, 1840s-1970s: An Annotated Bibliography: Volume 2: Migrants from Eastern and Southeastern Europe. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. pp. 234–235. ISBN 9780313246388.
  6. ^ a b c "Tshokken veljet pakenivat Keravalle – suurkonna itse Tampereelle" (in Finnish). Tampereen historiaa. 22 May 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.