Risto Ryti

Risto Heikki Ryti was born on February 3, 1889, in Huittinen. Educated in law, he served for seventeen years as Governor of the Bank of Finland, tying the markka to gold and steering the nation through the Great Depression with financial conservatism.

Appointed Prime Minister in 1939 during the Winter War and elected President in 1940, Ryti led Finland through the existential peril of World War II. In June 1944, facing a massive Soviet offensive, Ryti signed a personal letter to Hitler pledging that Finland would not make a separate peace without German consent, securing vital German weapons and grain to stop the Soviet advance. Once the front stabilized, Ryti resigned so that Mannerheim could negotiate an armistice, knowing he would face Soviet-demanded show trials as a 'war criminal'. He served four years in prison with dignified silence.