Urho Kekkonen

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (September 3 1900 – August 31 1986) was the President of Finland between 1956 and 1982. He was also Prime Minister of Finland before that.

Kekkonen was born in Pielavesi. He took part of the Finnish Civil War. He studied law and then worked in the Finnish secret police. He opposed the Communists and later fascists.

Kekkonen became the Interior Minister in 1937, and he then tried to ban the fascist party IKL.

After Second World War, in the year 1950 Kekkonen became the first time Prime Minister of Finland. He tried to keep good relations with the Soviet Union like president Juho Kusti Paasikivi.

Kekkonen was elected the President of Finland in 1956, after president Paasikivi. He tried to keep Finland neutral country, which means it was not part of any military alliance like NATO or Warsaw Pact in Cold War.

Urho Kekkonen led the underwriting of the Helsinki Accords of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe between European countries, United States and Soviet Union in 1975.

Kekkonen became sick in 1981 and gave up the presidency.