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The Most Famous

MILITARY PERSONNELS from Finland

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This page contains a list of the greatest Finnish Military Personnels. The pantheon dataset contains 1,468 Military Personnels, 8 of which were born in Finland. This makes Finland the birth place of the 27th most number of Military Personnels behind Belarus and Georgia.

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Finnish Military Personnels of all time. This list of famous Finnish Military Personnels is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity.

Photo of Simo Häyhä

1. Simo Häyhä (1905 - 2002)

With an HPI of 76.07, Simo Häyhä is the most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 48 different languages on wikipedia.

Simo Häyhä (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈsimo ˈhæy̯hæ] ; 17 December 1905 – 1 April 2002), often referred to by his nickname, The White Death (Finnish: Valkoinen kuolema; Russian: Белая смерть, romanized: Belaya smert’), was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 (a variant of the Mosin–Nagant rifle) and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun. He is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the Winter War, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. Because of this, he is often regarded as the deadliest sniper of all time.Häyhä estimated in his private war memoir that he shot around 500 Soviet soldiers. The memoir, titled Sotamuistoja (War memoirs), was written in 1940, a few months after he was wounded, and described his experiences in the Winter War from 30 November 1939 to 13 March 1940. Hidden for decades, the memoir was discovered in 2017.

Photo of Ernst Linder

2. Ernst Linder (1868 - 1943)

With an HPI of 58.06, Ernst Linder is the 2nd most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Ernst Linder (25 April 1868 – 14 September 1943) was a Swedish general of Finnish descent who served in the Swedish Army from 1887 to 1918, after which he participated in the Finnish Civil War as the commander of the Satakunta and Savo army groups, whose responsibility stretched from Finland's western coast adjoining the Gulf of Bothnia to Näsijärvi. Linder was friends with the White Commander, Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim. Following the war, he served as Inspector of Cavalry until retiring in 1920. Linder was promoted into the rank of Major General on 13 April 1918, Lieutenant General in 1938, and General of Cavalry in 1940.In the Winter War, the 71-year-old Linder led the Swedish Volunteer Corps from 6 January to 27 February 1940, after which he functioned as a commander of the Salla area. In addition to his military career, Linder was an accomplished horse rider who competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics, where he and his horse Piccolomino won the gold medal in individual dressage.Linder is buried at Norra begravningsplatsen in Stockholm.

Photo of Ilmari Juutilainen

3. Ilmari Juutilainen (1914 - 1999)

With an HPI of 56.02, Ilmari Juutilainen is the 3rd most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen (21 February 1914 – 21 February 1999) was a fighter pilot of the Ilmavoimat (Finnish Air Force), and the top scoring non-German fighter pilot of all time. The top flying ace of the Finnish Air Force, he led all Finnish pilots in score against Soviet aircraft in World War II (1939–40 and 1941–44), with 94 confirmed aerial combat victories (he himself claimed further kills for a total of 126 victories, but these were unconfirmed) in 437 sorties. He achieved 34 of his victories while flying the Brewster Buffalo fighter.One of the four double recipients of the Mannerheim Cross 2nd Class, Juutilainen was born in Lieksa, and died in Tuusula. His brother was the Finnish Army Captain Aarne Juutilainen, nicknamed "The Terror of Morocco".

Photo of Carl Johan Adlercreutz

4. Carl Johan Adlercreutz (1759 - 1815)

With an HPI of 51.58, Carl Johan Adlercreutz is the 4th most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Carl Johan Adlercreutz (27 April 1757 – 21 August 1815) was a Swedish (Finnish) general and statesman, born in Borgå, Finland on family estates. Entering the Swedish army aged 13 in the Finnish Light Cavalry Brigade, he was present when Gustav III launched his coup-d’etat. He studied military theory in Stockholm. In 1777 he joined the Savolax Brigade guarding the Finnish border against Russian aggression. Adlercreutz first saw action in the 1788-1790 Russo-Swedish War, where he distinguished himself. He was promoted Major in 1791 and Squadron Commander 1792. During the Anjala mutiny he remained faithful to the King, standing against the war with Russia, then took part in the trials against the conspirators. He was thereafter appointed the commanding officer of the Nyland Dragoons, holding this post until 1804, when he was made Ofverste (Colonel-in-Chief) of the newly raised Adlercreutz Regiment.

Photo of Erik Heinrichs

5. Erik Heinrichs (1890 - 1965)

With an HPI of 51.46, Erik Heinrichs is the 5th most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Axel Erik Heinrichs (21 July 1890 – 16 November 1965) was a Finnish military general. He was Finland's Chief of the General Staff during the Interim Peace and Continuation War (1940–1941 and 1942–1944) and Chief of Defence for a short time after the war (1945).

Photo of Paavo Talvela

6. Paavo Talvela (1897 - 1973)

With an HPI of 51.44, Paavo Talvela is the 6th most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Paavo Juho Talvela (born Paavo Juho Thorén; 19 February 1897 – 30 September 1973) was a Finnish general of the infantry, Knight of the Mannerheim Cross and a member of the Jäger movement. He participated in the Eastern Front of World War I, the Finnish Civil War, the Finnish Kinship Wars, the Winter War and the Continuation War. Talvela was also active in Finnish far-right politics, being involved in both the founding of the Academic Karelia Society and in the Lapua Movement. In 1940, he was also involved in talks with Germany about forming a Finnish Jäger battalion as part of the Wehrmacht.

Photo of Ali Aaltonen

7. Ali Aaltonen (1884 - 1918)

With an HPI of 50.54, Ali Aaltonen is the 7th most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Aleksi "Ali" Aaltonen (2 August 1884 – May 1918) was a Finnish journalist and former lieutenant of the Russian Imperial Army, who served as the first commander-in-chief of the Finnish Red Guards from November 1917 to the end of January 1918. He was executed after the Finnish Civil War in May 1918.

Photo of Aaro Pajari

8. Aaro Pajari (1897 - 1949)

With an HPI of 46.22, Aaro Pajari is the 8th most famous Finnish Military Personnel.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Aaro Olavi Pajari (17 July 1897 – 14 October 1949) was a Major General in the Finnish Army. During World War II, he became one of the four double recipients of the Mannerheim Cross 2nd Class. His greatest achievement was the Finnish victory at the Battle of Tolvajärvi in the Winter War, where his small Finnish force smashed a far larger Soviet army. Pajari went on to serve throughout the Winter, Continuation, and Lapland wars, becoming famous for his success in leading small unit, and guerrilla style operations.

Pantheon has 8 people classified as military personnels born between 1759 and 1914. Of these 8, none of them are still alive today. The most famous deceased military personnels include Simo Häyhä, Ernst Linder, and Ilmari Juutilainen. As of April 2022, 2 new military personnels have been added to Pantheon including Carl Johan Adlercreutz and Aaro Pajari.

Deceased Military Personnels

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Newly Added Military Personnels (2022)

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Which Military Personnels were alive at the same time? This visualization shows the lifespans of the 8 most globally memorable Military Personnels since 1700.