Ville Pessi

Ville Pessi was a Finnish communist politician. Pessi hailed from a proletarian family. He became involved in leftist politics in 1919. He joined the Communist Party of Finland (SKP) in 1924, when it was still illegal. Pessi served as secretary of the Socialist Youth League 1925-1927. He was twice sent by the party to the Soviet Union for studies. Soon after he came back to Finland he was arrested and spent the years from 1935 to 1944 in prison. He was freed as a consequence of the Moscow Armistice of 19 September 1944, when the SKP was legalised. He was elected as the general secretary of the SKP in 1944 and served in the post until 1969 when he was replaced by Arvo Aalto. He was a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1945 to 1966, representing the Finnish People's Democratic League (SKDL).