Aarno Yrjö-Koskinen

Aarno Yrjö-Koskinen
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland
In office 21 March 1931 – 14 December 1932
Preceded by	Hjalmar J. Procopé
Succeeded by	Antti Hackzell
Finnish ambasador to the Soviet Union
In office 1 January 1931 – 8 April 1940
Preceded by	Pontus Artti
Succeeded by	Juho Kusti Paasikivi
Personal details
Born	(1885-12-09)9 December 1885 Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland
Died	8 June 1951(1951-06-08) (aged 65) Helsinki, Finland
Resting place	Hietaniemi Cemetery
Nationality	Russian
Political party	National Coalition Party
Alma mater	Imperial Alexander University
Profession	Diplomat, civil servant

The Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact signed in Helsinki on 21 January 1932. On the left the Finnish foreign minister Aarno Yrjö-Koskinen, and on the right the Envoy of the Soviet Union in Helsinki Ivan Maisky.[1]

Aarno Armas Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen (9 December 1885, Helsinki – 8 June 1951, Helsinki)[2] was a Finnish politician, Envoy and freiherr. He graduated as jurist and received the title varatuomari in 1915.

After the Finnish independence in 1917, Yrjö-Koskinen served under the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as Chief of political division from 1924 and Chief of staff from 1929. He worked as an Envoy in Moscow between 1 January 1931 and 8 April 1940.

Yrjö-Koskinen also served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs between 21 March 1931 and 15 December 1932.[3] During his ministry Yrjö-Koskinen signed on behalf of Finland the Soviet–Finnish Non-Aggression Pact with the Soviet Union. At beginning of the Winter War he moved from Moscow to the Finnish embassy in Ankara. Yrjö-Koskinen served in Turkey till 1950, and yet a small time in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Yrjö-Koskinen's father was the Finnish senator Yrjö Yrjö-Koskinen and grandfather was senator and historian Yrjö Sakari Yrjö-Koskinen.

Political offices
Preceded by Hjalmar Procopé	Foreign Minister of Finland 1931–1932	Succeeded by Antti Hackzell

References

1. Turtola, Martti (1999). "Kansainvälinen kehitys Euroopassa ja Suomessa 1930-luvulla". In Leskinen, Jari; Juutilainen, Antti (eds.). Talvisodan pikkujättiläinen (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö. pp. 13–46. ISBN 951-0-23536-9.
2. Valtioneuvosto: Ministerikortisto: Yrjö-Koskinen, Aarno Armas Sakari^[permanent dead link‍]
3. "Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland - Ministers of Foreign Affairs". Valtioneuvosto.fi. Archived from the original on 2011-07-16. Retrieved 30 January 2018.