Mauno Koivisto - Early Life

Early Life

Koivisto was born in Turku, Finland, the second son of Juho Koivisto, a carpenter at Crichton-Vulcan shipyard, and Hymni Sofia Eskola, who died when he was 10. After attending primary school, Koivisto had a number of jobs, and at the beginning of the Winter War in 1939, when he was 16, he joined a field firefighting unit. During the Continuation War, Koivisto served in the Infantry Detachment Törni, led by the famous Lauri Törni, which was a reconnaissance detachment operating behind the enemy lines and open to selected volunteers only. During the war he received the Order of the Cross of Liberty (2nd class) and was promoted to the rank of lance corporal. He later referred to his experiences during the war by stating "When you have taken part in a game in which your own life is at stake, all other games are small after that experience".

After the war, he earned a living as a carpenter and became active in politics, joining the Social Democratic party. In autumn 1948, he obtained a job at Turku harbour, and in December of the same year, he was appointed manager of the Harbour Labour Office of Turku, a post he held until 1951. In 1949, trade unions controlled by the communists attempted to topple Karl-August Fagerholm's Social Democrat minority government, and the Social Democratic leadership of the Finnish Confederation of Trade Unions (SAK) declared the port of Hanko an "open site", urging port workers who supported legality to go to Hanko. Koivisto moved there to take charge of the harbour-master's office and recruit workers (break the strike), the government having banned strike action. The communists newspapers branded him as Finland's Enemy No.1 as Koivisto was a key figure in the struggle for control of the trade unions.