Elias Simojoki: Secretary of the Academic Karelia Society (1923-1924), Member of the Board (1934-1937) Member of Parliament (1933-1939), Leader of the Sinimustat (1933-1936) and Head of the Mustapaita Organization (1937-1940)

(28 January 1899 – 25 January 1940)

Family and studies

Elias Simojoki's parents were chaplain, later county reverend Niilo Iisakki Simelius (1864–1925) and Kristiina Sofia, born Snellman (1861–1946). The mother was the daughter of Mr. J. A. Snellman of Hellmann, immortalized by Juhani Aho. Four children were born to the Simelius family: Rakel in 1894, Elias in 1899, Miika in 1901 and Arvi in 1903. In 1937, Elias Simojoki married kindergarten teacher Anna-Liisa Kotivuori. Their son Lauri Aunus (b. 1939) was a history lecturer in Kuopio.

Elias Simojoki went to school in Oulu and graduated from Oulu Lyceum in 1919. He completed his theological distinction at the University of Helsinki in 1923. He was ordained a priest the same year.

Operations in Finland and abroad

As a high school student, Elias Simojoki participated in the battles of Oulu in February 1918 with his classmates Kaarlo Hillilä and Aaro Pakaslahti. Simojoki was a contradictory person. At the same time, he was a humorous and well-liked priest of the Kiuruvesi parish, but also an ardent thinker who participated in the Finnish civil war, Aunus' expedition, the Karelia freedom struggle in 1921 and in the raids of Finnish leftists. The fates of the peoples of Inker, Viena and Aunus in the Soviet Union of the 1920s and 1930s were a recurring theme of his prayers in the church. Suur-Suomi was the leading star of his political activities. Simojoki accused Mannerheim of betraying his promise to the people of Viena (the so-called sword oath). Simojoki wrote to Mannerheim:

"Then you could have written the requirements of that will with the tips of our bayonets and then they could have come true. But you didn't do it because you were a knight who in time put your sword in its sheath, leaving it up to the government to fulfill the will dictated on the field of the War of Independence. We all too bitterly know how it turned out."

Simojoki participated in the attempted coup d'état by Estonian far-right vaps against the Estonian dictator Konstantin Pätsi.

In connection with the home searches, a letter written by Simojo to Jaakko Virkkunen on June 15, 1935 came to light. The letter concerned the press suit received by Sinimusta magazine after the magazine defamed the Soviet Foreign Minister Maksim Litvinov. The letter stated of Attorney General Eric J. Serlachius:

"The Swedish whip of the mentally and physically crippled Minister of Justice has cracked against my face, but his place will be in Petsamo's Heinäsaari concentration camp, where he will spend the rest of his life with Sasu, Eero and other reptiles collecting bird droppings and tremblingly listening to the rhythmic steps of the Blues by the watch fires."

Political activities and positions of trust

Simojoki was sworn member no. 1 in the Academic Karelian Society (AKS) founded in 1922. He was vice-chairman of AKS in 1922–1923, secretary in 1923–1924 and member of the board in 1934–1937 and member of the advisory board in 1936–1940. He was a member of the editorial board of Suomen Heimo magazine for many years. He was one of the founders of AKS' Omakotisäätiö and was a member of its board 1937–1940.

Simojoki was elected from the western constituency of Pohjois Savo as a member of parliament of the Patriotic People's Movement (IKL) 1933–1939. He was a member of the legal committee and later the legal and financial committee. He was the leader of the far-right youth organization Sinimustat from 1933 to 1936, and the founder and head of the Mustapaita organization from 1937 to 1940. He was a member of the editorial board of Sinimusta magazine 1933–1936 and chairman of the board of Luo Lippujen magazine.

In the parliamentary elections of 1933, Simojoki's personal number of votes, 3,415 votes, was almost half of the entire number of votes in the western electoral district of Kuopio county of the coalition and IKL. For the personal vote share greater than Simojok, 5,303 votes, only the constituency's old vote rake, SDP's Yrjö Räisänen (the party leader Sasu Punanen) collected.[6] Kyllikki Pohjala, who was a member of parliament for the coalition, later recalled that Simojoki was a rather lonely man throughout his parliamentary term. Sylvi-Kyllikki Kilpi, who served as an SDP MP at the same time, said that Simojo differed from most other IKL MPs in that he agreed to talk with leftists as well.

Participation in the Finnish civil war and conscription

Simojoki participated in the 1918 war of independence with the Oulu I Voluntary Front Command and Kajaani guerrilla skiers. In the spring of 1919, he participated in Major von Hertzen's group in the liberation battle of Aunus. During the trip to Karelia in 1921, he was a member of the explosive command. Simojoki completed his military service in Helsinki in 1924–1925. His military rank was corporal.

As a priest

After graduating as a priest, Elias Simojoki served as the secretary of the Academic Karelia Society in 1923–1924. He worked as an extra priest in Kiuruvesi in 1925–1926, in Iisalmi rural municipality in 1926–1927 and in Kemi rural municipality in 1928. In 1929, he was elected chaplain of Kiuruvesi, a position he held until his death. Simojoki also worked as a religion teacher at Kiuruvesi Community School.

Participating in the Winter War and falling

When the Winter War broke out, Simojoki volunteered for the front. He served in JR39 as a regimental chaplain. Simojoki fell on the ice of Koirinoja on Konnunsaari in Impilahti while he was killing a wounded horse that was lying between the front lines. The horse had not been successfully killed by the Finnish or Soviet troops, so Simojoki skied next to the horse, killed it with a pistol and was shot by a Soviet machine gun.

In the days of Kiuruvesi, Elias Simojoki moved around on a motorcycle. Many legendary stories about his love for people are related to being a priest in Kiuruvedi. During the famine, he saved many from forced auctions by paying off the debt. Many homes were saved.

When Elias Simojoki preached, the church was full. His way of speaking was fast, sermon-like, quiet at first, but soon rising and becoming tearful in between.

Simojoki made trips to Estonia, Sweden and Denmark, as well as a study trip to Palestine.

Change

The model for Tampere's Freedom Statue and Lahti's Hero Statue was a young Elias Simelius. Both works are the handiwork of sculptor Viktor Jansson. The statues were completed at the same time and unveiled in 1921. Elias Simojoki's life was the subject of the musical Sovinto, which premiered in 2018, and was written by Pekka Simojoki together with Lasse Heikkilä. Pekka Simojoki is Elias Simojoki's younger cousin's son.

Elias Simojoki's son, Lauri Simojoki, donated his father's private archive in 1976 to the Simeliana collection of the Oulu County Archives (now the Oulu office of the National Archives). Simojoki's archive includes letters and speeches divided into religious and political speeches. Simojoki's collection contains material from 1865–1963 and its extent is 0.04 shelf meters.

The subject of Veikko Lavi's song Humanity's sacrifice is the death of Elias Simojoki. The song is included in Lavi's 1987 album Syyllise ja syytsömat, which contains war-related songs, performed by Jussi Raittinen.