Lennart Hohenthal
| Lennart Hohenthal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Lennart Hohenthal (cropped).jpg | |
| Born | November 25, 1877 Kuortane, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire |
| 💀Died | August 13, 1951 (aged 73) London, EnglandAugust 13, 1951 (aged 73) |
| Other names | Erik Alfvén |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Known for | Assassination of Eliel Soisalon-Soininen |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Alexandra Zetterberg (married 1906) |
Karl Lennart Hohenthal (25 November 1877 – 13 August 1951) was a Finnish political activist who opposed the Russification of Finland and assassinated Eliel Soisalon-Soininen in 1905.[1]
Background and radicalization
Karl Lennart was born at Kuortane as the eldest son of Klas Emil Hohenthal (born 1846 in Lapua) and Leonie Reichnitz (born 1845 in Stockholm). His father served as parish priest in Sideby from 1885 to 1898 and in Nivala from 1898 to 1904.[citation needed] The Hohenthal family had come from Swedish Pomerania to Finland during the 18th century.[citation needed]
Beginning in 1899, the Russian imperial government began to implement Russification policies in Finland that curtailed the country's autonomy, imposed military conscription, and expanded the powers of the Russian governor-general at the expense of the Finnish Senate.
Hohenthal initially supported passive resistance against the Russification. In 1903, on behalf of his father, he tried to persuade the clergy in Ostrobothnia to oppose military conscription by refusing to submit conscription lists and by signing a petition against conscription; however, only a few priests agreed to do so.[2]
In 1903, he turned toward active resistance. Hohenthal worked briefly as a police informant to gather intelligence on the authorities' plans.
His initial plan was to kill Governor-General Nikolay Bobrikov. Hohenthal joined the active resistance organization Kagal. He had made several attempts to kill the Russian Governor-General Nikolai Bobrikov by blowing him up during one of his walks. These attempts failed due to chance circumstances, but Hohenthal and his accomplices Herman Gummerus and Arvid Mörne were interrogated when the police came close to uncovering the group behind the plot. In the absence of evidence, they were never arrested. But he stepped aside when Eugen Schauman revealed he had the same plan. Schauman successfully assassinated Bobrikov in 1904.
Hohenthal and his fellow conspirators chose a new target: Eliel Johnsson (later ennobled as Soisalon-Soininen), whom they viewed as a symbol of the illegal pro-Russian administration. Johnsson had advised Bobrikov in deportations and other measures that the activists considered illegal.
Assassination
Hohenthal carried out the attack on 6 February 1905 with calculated precision: He disguised himself as a Russian officer to gain entry to Johnsson's home, and used a fake business card identifying himself as "Alexander De Gadd," a lieutenant from St. Petersburg. Upon meeting Johnsson, Hohenthal fired eight shots. A shootout followed involving a guard and Johnsson's 17-year-old son. Hohenthal was wounded and captured, while Johnsson died of his injuries.
On 6 February 1905, the Helsinki student Lennart Hohenthal shot and killed the Procurator Eliel Soisalon-Soininen in the latter’s home at Bulevardi 12 in Helsinki. Hohenthal was disguised as a Russian officer, calling himself Lieutenant Alexander De Gadd and claiming to be from Saint Petersburg, according to the business card that had been printed specifically for the occasion. After a brief wait, the security guard admitted Hohenthal to Soisalon-Soininen’s study. Following the shots, chaos ensued: the victim’s wife, Emilia Adelaide Louise Grenqvist (1859–1934), attempted to save her husband, while his son and the security guard—both armed with revolvers—shot and wounded Hohenthal in the hand and leg. Wounded, Hohenthal made it no farther than an adjoining room, where he collapsed and was shortly thereafter arrested by the police.
In court, Hohenthal was defended by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, who would later become the President of Finland. Despite Svinhufvud’s impassioned defense, Hohenthal was sentenced to life imprisonment. Svinhufvud used the trial as a political platform, arguing that Johnsson was a traitor who had assisted in the oppression of the Finnish people. Despite this fiery defense, Hohenthal was sentenced to life in prison.
Escape and later life
On 10 October 1905, Hohenthal was freed from the county prison on Katajanokka in Helsinki by fellow activists. Alexandra Zetterberg smuggled him a message during a visit, and he staged a dramatic escape using a saw and a rope ladder. Among those involved in the liberation was the then 18-year-old Gunnar Björling. The activists helped Hohenthal escape to Sweden via the so-called Monäs Pass (with the assistance of Member of Parliament Jakob Näs and Isak Flygar).
Hohenthal later moved to England, where he worked as a physiotherapist and as a businessman under the name Erik Alvén, while quietly continuing to work for Finland's independence. He married Alexandra Zetterberg. In England, Hohenthal also wrote his memoirs and a work about his friend and fellow assassin Eugen Schauman, who on 16 June 1904 succeeded in shooting and killing the Russian Governor-General Nikolai Bobrikov in the Senate House in Helsinki. After Finland's independence, Hohenthal was pardoned by the new Finnish government, but did not return Finland. He died in London in 1951.[3][4][5]
Publications
- Lennart Hohenthal, Lennart Hohenthals memoarer. Stockholm (1908)[6]
- Lennart Hohenthal, Mina relationer till Eugen Schauman. Helsinki (1925)[6]
References
- ↑ Kaisu-Maija Nenonen, Ilkka Teerijoki (1998). Historian suursanakirja. WSOY. p. 157. ISBN 951-0-22044-2. Search this book on
- ↑ Ervasti, Kaijus (23 January 2019). "Lennart Hohenthal". Kansallisbiografia (via Biografiasampo). Retrieved 2025-12-22.
- ↑ Jokinen, Pauli (2020-09-26). "Aktivisti Lennart Hohenthal haaveili todellisesta verilöylystä Helsingissä 1904 – Sitten yksi jääräpäinen teko pilasi suunnitelman ja muutti pysyvästi koko Suomen historian". Helsingin Sanomat (in suomi). Retrieved 2025-12-22.
- ↑ Ervasti, Kaijus (2009). "Hohenthal, Lennart". Biografiskt lexikon för Finland. Retrieved 2025-12-22.
- ↑ "Hohenthal, Karl Lennart". Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan (in svenska). 1924. pp. 435–436.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Maliniemi, Aarno; Kivikoski, Ella (1940). Suomen historiallinen bibliografia 1901-1925: Aineenmukainen osa. 1 : Tekijähakemisto (PDF) (in suomi, svenska, and français). Helsinki: Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura. Search this book on
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