Heikki Ritavuori (previously known as Henrik Rydman; 23 March 1880 – 14 February 1922) was a Finnish lawyer, a politician from the National Progressive Party, a member of the Parliament of Finland and Minister of the Interior. He was the closest colleague of President K. J. Ståhlberg and was Minister of the Interior in J. H. Vennola's first and second cabinets from 1919 to 1922 for a total of 526 days. Heikki Ritavuori is a unique figure in Finland's political history because he is not remembered for his life's work, but instead for its end. Minister Ritavuori was shot dead at the door to his home in Helsinki in February 1922.

Career 
The murder of a government minister is such a rare occurrence in Finland that it has almost completely overshadowed Ritavuori's achievements as a builder of Finnish society. The Turku-born lawyer, member of parliament and government minister was one of the most notable politicians in the early years of Finland's independence. He was dedicated to justice, equality among citizens, and a unified nation.

Defending these values took a great deal of courage in the unstable times following the Finnish Civil War, when radical groups sought their own ends by any means necessary. Ritavuori was frightened of neither the extreme left-wing nor the extreme right, but instead implemented the reforms he felt were necessary as K.J. Ståhlberg's most trusted man. He took particular care in defending the civil rights of red prisoners of war kept in prison camps, and advocated laws to pardon them.

Ritavuori was already familiar with social questions when he became Secretary of the Foundation Board of the Parliament of Finland in 1907; he was especially interested in land-owning rights and the position of peasants. As a lawyer, he liked to handle communal cases in defense of the poor. He was elected as a member of the parliament from the Turku Province southern election circle first in 1913, and then again in 1919.

The acceptance of Finland's republican form of government in June 1919 is largely because of Ritavuori's work as chairman of the Foundation Board. The dispute about the form of government between the royalists and the republicans had been holding back governmental activity for months. To stop the unhelpful "temporary situation", the republican government of Kaarlo Castrén proposed a law establishing the new form to the Parliament of Finland in June; it was written by the President of the High Court, K.J. Ståhlberg.

For the parliament to be able to accept the proposed law, it had to be classified as urgent by the meeting order. One vote more was needed for the required five-sixths majority, and so the reform of the government was about to be delayed again. It was then that Heikki Ritavuori involved himself in the matter, and only a couple of days later he gave his own proposal for a new governmental form (which he had already submitted for consideration earlier) to the parliament. The members of the parliament were amazed, but now the proposal was classified as urgent, and based on it, the parliament accepted the new form of government on 21 June 1919. Thus, Finland became a republic.

Ritavuori, having served as Minister of Internal Affairs twice, was frequently confronted by activists representing the extreme right-wing. Because of the laws to pardon red prisoners of war, he was branded the "red minister", one who threatened the legacy of white Finland. Supporting Ståhlberg as the opponent of Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim in the presidential elections in summer 1919 and opposing the independence of the protection guards in the crisis of 1921 made Ritavuori even less liked in right-wing circles.

Murder 

 

Ritavuori's fate was sealed by the East Karelian uprising  in the winter of 1921–22, when he served as minister responsible for the border guard and handled his job in a direct manner as instructed by President of Finland K.J. Ståhlberg. Based on falsified news sent from Eastern Karelia, right-wing newspapers started a smear campaign that destroyed Ritavuori's reputation and eventually caused his death. Heikki Ritavuori was shot dead at his home in Etu-Töölö, at Nervanderinkatu 11, on 14 February 1922.

At about 4:30 PM on 14 February 1922, a strange-looking man had attracted attention at a barbershop in Kallio by exclaiming that minister Ritavuori would be shot at 5:00 PM, after which president Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg and foreign minister Rudolf Holsti would meet the same fate.

At about 5:00 PM, minister Ritavuori had been walking to his home on Nervanderinkatu in Etu-Töölö followed by editor of newspaper Uusi Suomi Ernst Nevanlinna, who had business to attend to in the same building where Ritavuori lived. Ritavuori was just reaching for the handle of the front door when someone shouted Sisäministeri! (Finnish for "interior minister") and fired four shots at him. Minister Ritavuori fell to the ground in front of his home door.

The assassin tried to escape, but Nevanlinna was able to grab him and call the police. The assassin surrendered to the police immediately. According to schoolboy Lothar Czarnecki who was witness to the events, the assassin said "It was Ritavuori, and you probably understand why." The assassin identified himself as Ernst Tandefelt and took full responsibility for his actions. Tandefelt had fired four shots, of which three had hit minister Ritavuori. The first shot had hit Tandefelt's own leg as he had accidentally fired the gun while it was still in his pocket. This gunshot wound slowed down Tandefelt's escape allowing Nevanlinna to catch him.

Ernst Tandefelt, who had fired the murder weapon, was a mentally underdeveloped black sheep of a noble family. He stated that based on newspaper reports, and particularly Hufvudstadsbladet information supporting Swedish-speaking activists, he had concluded that Ritavuori was indeed a danger to the country, and thought he had to be eliminated. In court, Tandefelt said he had acted alone, and he was sentenced to 12 years of hard labor as partially legally insane. Afterwards, Tandefelt implicated several people, including the pharmacist Oskar Jansson and the general-major Paul von Gerich, who he said were involved in planning the murder. Research done by the chancellor of justice in 1927-30 did not result in any evidence that would have caused further actions in the matter. The decision was an understandable solution in the increasingly right-wing atmosphere of the time. However, many facts pointed to the theory that the initiative-less Tandefelt was supported by, if not a full conspiracy, then at least radical political actors, mostly Finland-Swedish Civil Guard activists, who encouraged Tandefelt to kill Ritavuori by giving him the murder weapon and some money.

Other notes 
Heikki Ritavuori, only 41 years old at the time of his death, was a heavy-duty government figure whom several parties saw as a potential new president.

Heikki Ritavuori fennicised his name in 1905. His younger brother Eero Rydman was a member of parliament from the Progressive Party, the mayor of Helsinki for 12 years, and a presidential candidate of the People's Party of Finland in 1956. Ritavuori's grandson, professor Pekka Tarjanne, was the chairman of the Liberal People's Party, a member of the parliament, a government minister, chairman of the board of the Post and Telephone Bureau, and chairman of the board of the ITU.

Literature 
 Niku, Risto: Ministeri Ritavuoren murha. Helsinki: Edita Publishing Oy, 2004. .
 Hänninen, Timo: Myytti poliittisesta murhasta. 1995. Master's Thesis, University of Helsinki Faculty of Governmental Sciences.
 Silenti, Tuomo: Ritavuoren murha. 1995. Master's Thesis, University of Helsinki Faculty of History.

References

External links 

1880 births
1922 deaths
People from Turku
People from Turku and Pori Province (Grand Duchy of Finland)
Young Finnish Party politicians
National Progressive Party (Finland) politicians
Ministers of the Interior of Finland
Members of the Parliament of Finland (1913–1916)
Members of the Parliament of Finland (1919–1922)
Assassinated Finnish politicians
Deaths by firearm in Finland
People murdered in Finland
1922 murders in Finland
1920s assassinated politicians
헤이키 리타부오리(, 1880년 3월 23일 ~ 1922년 2월 14일)는 핀란드의 법률가, 정치인이다. 국민진보당 당원으로 카를로 유호 스톨베리 대통령의 측근이었다. 1919년에서 1922년 사이 제1, 제2차 벤놀라 내각에서 총 526일간 내무장관을 역임했다. 핀란드 독립 직후 정국에서 중요한 정치인 중 한 명이었다. 장관 재임 중이던 1922년 2월 14일 헬싱키 자택에서 암살당했다.

본래 성은 스웨덴어로 리드만(Rydman)이었으나 1906년 핀란드식으로 창씨했다. 스웨덴식 이름을 유지한 남동생 에로 린드만도 정치인으로 활동했다.

리타부오리는 1907년 헌법위원회 서기관으로 정치경력을 시작했다. 리타부오리의 주 관심사는 토지와 농민 문제였다. 법률가 출신이었던 리타부오리는 사회 문제 해결에 열의를 가졌다. 1914년 투르쿠주 남부 선거구에서 의원으로 선출되었고 1919년 재선되었다.

리타부오리는 법치주의, 국민평등, 국민통합 같은 가치를 추구했다. 반대파를 무슨 수를 동원해서라도 말살시키려 드는 내전기에 이런 가치를 지키는 것은 매우 어려웠다. 리타부오리는 극좌와 극우로부터 공화국을 지켜내는 개혁을 완수하고자 했고 스톨베리 대통령의 측근이 되었다. 특히 리타부오리는 이 시기 포로수용소에 갇힌 적핀란드 포로들의 권익 보호와 그들을 사면하는 법률 제정에 관여했다.

내전 이후 신생 핀란드가 왕국이 될지 공화국이 될지 문제로 정쟁이 벌어져 몇 달 동안 국가 활동이 마비되었다. 유해한 권력공백 상황을 해소하기 위해 카를로 카스트렌 내각은 최고행정재판소장 스톨베리가 정초한 공화국 헌법을 1919년 6월 의회에 제출했다. 의회가 법안을 승인하기 위해서는 의사절차에 따라 이 법안을 긴급한 것으로 선언해야 했다. 하지만 6분의 5를 채우지 못해 긴급법안 선언에 실패했고, 개헌은 또 좌초되는 듯 했다. 이 때 리타부오리가 나타나 불과 이틀만에 헌법위원회를 통해 의회가 만든 개헌안을 상정시켰다. 의원들은 놀랐고, 이번에는 긴급법안 선언이 성공하여 1919년 6월 21일 신헌법이 통과, 핀란드는 공화국이 되었다.

두 차례 내무장관으로 재임하면서 리타부오리는 지속적으로 우익의 위협에 시달렸다. 적핀란드 참여자들에 대한 사면법을 주도했기에, 백핀란드의 유산을 위협하는 "빨갱이 장관(punikkiministeriksi)"이라는 낙인이 찍혔다. 초대 대통령 선거에서 리타부오리가 지지한 스톨베리가 군부의 우두머리 만네르헤임 남작을 이기고 당선되고, 1921년 여름에는 백위대의 독립적 활동이 거부당하자 리타부오리에 대한 우익세력의 불만은 더욱 고조되었다.

1921년 겨울 동카리알라 봉기가 일어나 이듬해까지 정치적 분쟁이 계속되었다. 당시 리타부오리는 내무장관으로서 국경경비대의 책임각료였다. 리타부오리는 사태 확대를 막으라는 스톨베리 대통령의 지시를 충실하게 따랐다. 국경경비대는 봉기에 참여하려는 의용병이나 무기·식량 지원을 차단했다. 우익 언론들은 이에 대해 리타부오리를 비난했고, 이런 시국에 리타부오리는 에른스트 탄데펠트라는 청년에게 살해당했다.

탄데펠트는 스베코마니아 활동가였다. 그는 스웨덴어 언론, 특히 후부드스타드스블라데트에서 떠드는 것을 보고 리타부오리가 국가에 위험한 인물이니 제거해야만 한다고 결심했다고 밝혔다. 재판에서 탄데펠트는 단독범행 확신범임을 주장하고 종신형을 선고받았다. 항소심에서 탄데펠트는 정신병자 행세를 하는 것으로 전술을 바꾸었고, 여러 정치적 압력으로 인해 탄데펠트는 노역형 12년으로 감형된다.

나중에 탄데펠트는 약사 겸 운동가인 오스카르 얀손과 파울 폰 겐리히 소장 등 여러 사람을 배후인물로 실토했다. 1927년에서 1930년 사이에 사정감독원이 재수사한 바에 따르면 탄데펠트는 거대한 우익운동가 결사의 말단에 지나지 않음이 드러났다. 하지만 결정적인 증거는 찾아내지 못하고 재수사가 종결되었다. 사건이 일어난 지 10년이나 지났던 이유도 있었고, 이 시기 핀란드에서는 우익이 급진화되어 라푸아 운동 같은 자생적 파시스트가 출현하는 등 이런 정치적으로 민감한 사건의 재수사를 제대로 할 분위기가 되지 못했기 때문이기도 했다. 하지만 탄데펠트가 지령을 받은 결사가 사건을 직접적으로 공모한 것이 아니거나 또는 조직으로서 실체가 없을 경우에도, 스웨덴계 핀란드인 시민위병들을 중심으로 한 우익 운동가들이 탄데펠트에게 총과 돈을 주며 리타부오리 암살을 종용했다는 것은 최소한 확실하다.

사망 당시 41세로 아직 한창 나이였던 리타부오리는 차기 대통령감으로 여겨질 정도로 유망한 정치인이었다.

참고 자료 

 Harju, Jari & Savia, Satu (toim.): ”Poliittinen kuolema kieltolain aikaan: kolme ihmiskohtaloa Helsingistä (kirj. Sauli Seppälä)”, Rikospaikka: Helsinki, s. 67–76. Helsinki: Helsingin kaupunginmuseo, 2007. ISBN 978-952-473-838-5.
 Niku, Risto: Ministeri Ritavuoren murha. Helsinki: Edita Publishing Oy, 2004. ISBN 951-37-4146-X.

1880년 출생
1922년 사망
핀란드의 내무장관
핀란드의 제6대 의회의원
국민진보당의 정치인
투르쿠 출신
암살된 정치인
핀란드의 제9대 의회의원