Elias Simojoki

Lauri Elias Simojoki was a Finnish clergyman who became a leading figure in the country's fascist movement. The son of a clergyman, Simojoki was born on 28 January 1899 in Rautio. As a youth he saw service in the struggle for Finnish independence and then with the Forest Guerrillas in East Karelia. A student in theology at the University of Helsinki, he became involved in the formation of Academic Karelia Society, serving as chairman from 1922-1923 and secretary from 1923-1924. He advocated the union of all Finnish people into a Greater Finland whilst in this post. Strongly anti-communist, the student Simojoki addressed a rally on 'Kalevala Day' in 1923 with the slogan "In the name of Finland's lost honour and her coming greatness, death to the Ruskis." Simojoki was ordained as a minister in 1925 and he held the chaplaincy at Kiuruvesi from 1929 until his death.