List of heads of state of Finland

This is a list of heads of state of Finland; that is, the kings of Sweden with regents and viceroys of the Kalmar Union, the grand dukes of Finland, a title used by most Swedish monarchs and Russian emperors, up to the two-year regency following the independence in 1917, with a brief flirtation with a truly domestic monarchy.

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Kingdom of Sweden (until 1809)

Summarize

Perspective

Finland as an integral part of Sweden under the King of Sweden

This section does not cite any sources. (June 2024)

Some texts suggest the Swedish rule of Finland started as early as during the Houses of Sverker and Eric (Sverker I of Sweden 1130–1156 and Eric the Saint 1156–1160). But the first historic documents suggesting rule by Swedish kings in Finland not limited to sparse crusades and conquests are dated at around 1249.

House of Bjälbo

1250–1275 : Valdemar Birgersson (Valdemar Birgerinpoika)
- regent: Birger Jarl
1275–1284 : Magnus Ladulås (Maunu Ladonlukko)
1284–1291 : Bengt Birgersson (Bengt Birgerinpoika )
1291–1302 : Birger Magnusson (Birger Maununpoika)
1302–1319 : Valdemar Magnusson (Valdemar Maununpoika) and his first wife
1319–1353 : Ingeborg Eriksdottir (Ingeborg Eerikintytär), widow of Valdemar
1353–1356 : Bengt Algotsson (Pentti Algotinpoika)
1357-1359 : Erik Magnusson (Eerik Maununpoika)
1359 : Magnus Eriksson (Maunu Eerikinpoika) with his son Erik Magnusson
1359–1364 : Magnus Eriksson and his son Haakon

House of Mecklenburg-Schwerin

1364–1395 : Albert, King of Sweden (Albrekt Mecklenburgilainen)

Kalmar Union monarchs and Swedish regents

1389–1412 : Margaret (Margareeta), widow of King Haakon of Sweden, mother of Olav IV, and heiress of Estonia, a Danish dominion
1396–1439 : Eric of Pomerania (Eerik Pommerilainen, died 1459), a first cousin twice removed of Haakon I of Sweden
1438–1440 : Karl Knutsson, as regent of Sweden (Kaarle Knuutinpoika)
1441–1448 : Christopher of Bavaria (Kristoffer Baijerilainen)
1448–1448 : Regents Bengt and Nils Jönsson (Oxenstierna) (Bengt Jönsinpoika Oxenstierna and Nils Jönsinpoika Oxenstierna)
1448–1457 : Karl Knutsson, as King of Sweden, he had been 1442–48 chatelain and margrave of Viipuri county
1457–1457 : Regents Jöns Bengtsson Oxenstierna (Jöns Pentinpoika Oxenstierna) the archbishop and Eric Axelsson Tott (Eerik Akselinpoika Tott)
1457–1464 : Christian I (Kristian I)
1464–1470 : Karl Knutsson (restored)
1470–1497 : Regent Sten Sture the Elder (Sten Sture vanhempi) - also, 1483–1501 chatelain and margrave of Viipuri county
1497–1501 : Hans (Hannu)
1501–1503 : Regent Sten Sture the Elder (Sten Sture vanhempi)
1504–1511 : Regent Svante Nilsson (Svante Niilonpoika)
1512–1512 : Regent Eric Trolle
1512–1520 : Regent Sten Sture the Younger (Sten Sture nuorempi)
1520–1521 : Christian II (Kristian II)

House of Vasa

1521–1560 : Gustav I Vasa (Kustaa I Vaasa)
1560–1569 : Eric XIV (Eerik XIV)
1569–1592 : John III (restored), adopted title Grand Prince of Finland (Suomen suuriruhtinas) around 1580
1592–1599 : Sigismund (titled Grand Prince of Finland) and John III
1599-1606 : John III
1606–1632 : Gustav II Adolph the Great (Kustaa II Aadolf), also titled Grand Prince of Finland
1632–1654 : Christina of Sweden (Kristiina), also titled Grand Princess of Finland

House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken

1654–1660 : Charles X Gustav (Kaarle X Kustaa), also titled Grand Prince of Finland
1660–1697 : Charles XI (Kaarle XI), also titled Grand Prince of Finland
1697–1718 : Charles XII (Kaarle XII), also titled Grand Prince of Finland
1719–1720 : Ulrika Eleonora of Sweden (Ulriika Eleonoora), also titled Grand Princess of Finland

House of Hesse

1720–1751 : Frederick I of Sweden (Fredrik I), also titled Grand Prince of Finland

House of Holstein-Gottorp

1751–1771 : Adolph Frederick (Aadolf Fredrik), Grand Prince of Finland
1771–1792 : Gustav III (Kustaa III), Grand Prince of Finland
- 1792–1796 : Charles, duke of Södermanland as Regent (Södermanlannin herttua Kaarle)
1792–1809 : Gustav IV Adolph (Kustaa IV Aadolf), Grand Prince of Finland

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Russian Empire (1809–1917)

More information Grand Duke (Birth–Death), Reign ...

Grand Duke (Birth–Death)	Reign
	Alexander I (1777–1825)	1809–1825
	Nicholas I (1796–1855)	1825–1855
	Alexander II (1818–1881)	1855–1881
	Alexander III (1845–1894)	1881–1894
	Nicholas II (1868–1918)	1894–1917

Interim period (1917–1919)

During the interregnum from the fall of Nicholas II to the end of the Finnish Civil War in spring 1918, sovereignty in Finland was exercised by the Finnish Parliament and, until the October Revolution and the declaration of independence, the Russian interim government. After the civil war, regents (valtionhoitaja) were appointed by the parliament and a new king elected.

In May 1918, President Woodrow Wilson stated that the U.S. “shall be willing to recognize the Republic of Finland only when she shows that she is not controlled by Germany, as she now seems to be".^[1]

Regents appointed by parliament

27 May 1918 – 12 December 1918 : Pehr Evind Svinhufvud^[2]
12 December 1918 – 26 July 1919 : Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim

House of Hesse

More information Name, Portrait ...

Name	Portrait	Birth	Marriage(s)	Death	Claim
Fredrik Kaarle 9 October 1918 – 14 December 1918 (67 days)		1868 Prussia Son of Frederick William, Landgrave of Hesse and Princess Anna of Prussia	Princess Margaret of Prussia 1893 6 children	28 May 1940 Kassel Aged 72	King-elect of Finland

List of presidents (1919–present)

National Progressive Party

Agrarian League

National Coalition Party/National Coalition

Social Democratic Party of Finland

independent

More information №., Portrait ...

№.	President (birth year – death year)	Elected	Took office	Left office	Political party (until election)	Birth day, place Death day, place
1.	Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (1865–1952)	1919	26 July 1919	2 March 1925	National Progressive Party	* 28 January 1865, Suomussalmi † 22 September 1952, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1908–1910, 1914–1918 and 1930–1933). Speaker of parliament (1914–1917). President of the Supreme Administrative Court (1918–1919). Elected as president by the parliament in 1919.
2.	Lauri Kristian Relander (1883–1942)	1925	2 March 1925	2 March 1931	Agrarian League	* 31 May 1883, Kurkijoki † 9 February 1942, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1910–1914 and 1917–1920). Speaker of parliament (1919–1920). Governor of Viipuri Province (1920–1925). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1925.
3.	Pehr Evind Svinhufvud (1861–1944)	1931	2 March 1931	1 March 1937	National Coalition Party	* 15 December 1861, Sääksmäki † 29 February 1944, Luumäki
Member of the Estate of Nobles in the Diet of Finland (1894 and 1899–1906). Member of parliament (1907–1917 and 1930–1931). Speaker of parliament (1907–1913). Regent (interim head of state) of Finland (1918). Prime Minister (1917–1918 and 1930–1931). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1931.
4.	Kyösti Kallio (1873–1940)	1937	1 March 1937	19 December 1940 (died)	Agrarian League	* 10 April 1873, Ylivieska † 19 December 1940, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1907–1937). Chairman of the Agrarian League (1909–1917). Minister of Agriculture (1919–1920 and 1921–1922). Speaker of parliament (1920–1921, 1922, 1924–1925, 1927–1928, 1929 and 1930–1936). Prime Minister (1922–1924, 1925–1926, 1929–1930 and 1936–1937). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1937. Announced resignation in 1940 because of poor health, but died in office.
5.	Risto Ryti (1889–1956)	1940 1943	19 December 1940	4 August 1944 (resigned)	National Progressive Party	* 3 February 1889, Huittinen † 25 October 1956, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1919–1924 and 1927–1929). Minister of Finance (1921–1922 and 1922–1924). Governor of the Bank of Finland (1923–1940 and 1944–1945). Prime Minister (1939–1940). Elected as president by the electoral college from 1937 in 1940 and re-elected in 1943 also by the electoral college from 1937. Resigned in 1944 due to the Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement.
6.	Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (1867–1951)	1944 [fi]	4 August 1944	11 March 1946 (resigned)	independent	* 4 June 1867, Askainen † 27 January 1951, Lausanne, Switzerland
Regent (interim head of state) of Finland (1918–1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces (1939–1945). The only Field Marshal and Marshal of Finland. Decreed as president in 1944 by an exception law. Resigned in 1946 because of poor health. Finland's only non-partisan president and the only president to die outside Finland.
7.	Juho Kusti Paasikivi (1870–1956)	1946 1950	11 March 1946	1 March 1956	National Coalition Party	* 27 November 1870, Koski Hl. † 14 December 1956, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1907–1909 and 1910–1914). Prime Minister (1918 and 1944–1946). Elected as president by the parliament in 1946 and re-elected by an electoral college in 1950.
8.	Urho Kekkonen (1900–1986)	1956 1962 1968 1978	1 March 1956	27 January 1982 (resigned)	Agrarian League	* 3 September 1900, Pielavesi † 31 August 1986, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1936–1956). Minister of Justice (1936–1937 and 1944–1946). Minister of the Interior (1937–1939 and 1950–1951). Speaker of parliament (1948–1950). Prime Minister (1950–1953 and 1954–1956). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1956 and re-elected in 1962, 1968 and 1978. In 1973, the term that started in 1968 was extended by four years by an exception law. Resigned in 1982 because of poor health. Served in the Finnish Civil War.
9.	Mauno Koivisto (1923–2017)	1982 1988	27 January 1982	1 March 1994	Social Democratic Party of Finland	* 25 November 1923, Turku † 12 May 2017, Helsinki
Minister of Finance (1966–1967 and 1972). Governor of the Bank of Finland (1968–1982). Prime Minister (1968–1970 and 1979–1982). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1982 and re-elected in 1988. The first president born in independent Finland. Served in the Continuation War of the Second World War.
10.	Martti Ahtisaari (1937–2023)	1994	1 March 1994	1 March 2000	Social Democratic Party of Finland	* 23 June 1937, Viipuri † 16 October 2023, Helsinki
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (1987–1991). Elected as president in 1994. The first president elected by direct popular vote. Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2008. Member of The Elders.
11.	Tarja Halonen (b. 1943)	2000 2006	1 March 2000	1 March 2012	Social Democratic Party of Finland	* 24 December 1943, Helsinki
Member of parliament (1979–2000). Minister of Justice (1990–1991). Minister for Foreign Affairs (1995–2000). Elected as president in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. Finland's first female president.
12.	Sauli Niinistö (b. 1948)	2012 2018	1 March 2012	1 March 2024	National Coalition	* 24 August 1948, Salo
Member of parliament (1987–2003 and 2007–2011). Chairman of the National Coalition Party (1994–2001). Minister of Justice (1995–1996). Minister of Finance (1996–2003). Speaker of parliament (2007–2011). Elected as president in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.
13.	Alexander Stubb (b. 1968)	2024	1 March 2024	Incumbent	National Coalition	* 1 April 1968, Helsinki
Member of the European Parliament (2004–2008). Member of parliament (2011–2017). Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–2011). Minister for European Affairs and Trade (2011–2014). Prime Minister (2014–2015). Chairman of the National Coalition Party (2014–2016). Minister of Finance (2015–2016). Elected as president in 2024.