Matti Lonkainen

Matti Pekanpoika Lonkainen (14 April 187414 November 1918) was a Finnish smallholder, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Kuopio Province East between June 1909 and May 1918. He died in captivity following the Finnish Civil War.

Early life Lonkainen was born on 14 April 1874 in Tohmajärvi in the south-east of the Grand Duchy of Finland. Following the death of his father in 1880 Lonkainen was forced to beg. He worked on the railways, as a stonemason and as farm worker in Tohmajärvi.

Politics, civil war and death Lonkainen joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) around 1904. He was re-elected at the 1910, 1911, 1913, 1916 and 1917 parliamentary elections.

Following the Finnish Revolution, Lonkainen was elected to the Central Workers' Council of Finland, the legislature of the Finnish Socialist Workers' Republic (the Reds), without his knowledge or consent. He did not attend any session of the Central Workers' Council. This did not protect Lonkainen from the retribution meted out against SDP members by the victorious Whites following the end of the civil war.

In early May 1918 the Whites published a list of leaders of the "Red Rebellion" (the failed Finnish Revolution) which included 37 SDP MPs: Lonkainen was included on the list due to his membership of the Central Workers' Council. Lonkainen and five other SDP MPs submitted a notice to the White parliamentary authorities stating that they had not taken part in the rebellion.

Lonkainen was arrested on 16 May 1918 by White military intelligence in front of the parliament building while on the way to a parliamentary session. He was taken initially to intelligence headquarters on Vuorimiehenkatu 1 before being imprisoned in Helsinki County Prison. The also claimed that he was aware that there was a threat of rebellion, that he agitated for rebellion and that he belonged to the Central Workers' Council, the highest council of the revolutionaries. Lonkainen was found guilty of preparation for high treason and sentenced to two years imprisonment and lost his civic rights for six years.

Lonkainen had been ill for some time and was transferred from Sörnäinen Prison to Helsinki Surgical Hospital, where he died on 14 November 1918. According to the White medical authorities his death had been caused by appendicitis.