Vilho Veikko Päiviö Helanen (24 November 1899, Oulu

Oulu

Oulu is a city and municipality of inhabitants in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia, in Finland. It is the most populous city in Northern Finland and the sixth most populous city in the country. It is one of the northernmost larger cities in the world....

 - 8 June 1952, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany) was a Finnish

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 civil servant and politician.

A student as the University of Helsinki

University of Helsinki

The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...

 he gained an MA in 1923 and completed his doctorate in 1940. From 1924 to 1926 he edited the student paper Ylioppilaslehti

Ylioppilaslehti

Ylioppilaslehti is a Finnish student newspaper founded in 1913. The paper is published by a private company Ylioppilaslehden kustannus Oy that is owned by the Student Union of the University of Helsinki. The paper is the largest student paper in Finland with a circulation of 35,000 copies...

and around this time joined the Academic Karelia Society

Academic Karelia Society

The Academic Karelia Society was a Finnish elitist nationalist and Finno-Ugric activist organization aiming at the growth and improvement of newly independent Finland, founded by academics and students of the University of Finland in 1922...

. He served as chairman of the group from 1927-8, from 1934-5 and again from 1935-44, helping to turn the Society against democracy

Democracy

Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...

. Helanen visited Estonia

Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 in 1933 and was amazed at the high levels of popular support for the far right

Far right

Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...

 that he witnessed there, in contrast to Finland where it was a more marginal force. As a result he was involved in the coup attempt of the Vaps Movement in Estonia in 1935.

Helanen was a major inspiration for the Patriotic People's Movement

Patriotic People's Movement (Finland)

Patriotic People's Movement, abbreviated to IKL), was a Finnish nationalist and anti-communist political party. IKL was the successor of the previously banned Lapuan liike...

 and a close friend of Elias Simojoki

Elias Simojoki

Lauri Elias Simojoki was a Finnish clergyman who became a leading figure in the country's far right movement....

, although he did not join the group and instead became a vocal supporter of Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler

Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...

. He formed his own group, Nouseva Suomi, in 1940 which, despite his earlier radicalism, became associated with the mainstream National Progressive Party

National Progressive Party (Finland)

The National Progressive Party was a liberal political party in Finland from 1918 to 1951. The party was founded December 8 1918, after the Finnish Civil War, by the republican majority of the Young Finnish Party and the republican minority of the Finnish Party...

.

Rising to be head of the civil service during the Second World War he was imprisoned after the war for treason

Treason

In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...

able offences. Following his release he worked for Suomi-Filmi

Suomi-Filmi

Suomi-Filmi, lit. Finland-Film, is a Finnish film production and distribution company established in 1919 by Erkki Karu. Suomi-Filmi produced around 160 feature length films and for most of its history was one of the two most important film companies in the country, along with Suomen Filmiteollisuus...

 and also wrote a series of detective novels.