Urho Kaleva Kekkonen

Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (pronounced [urho kekːonen] ( listen); 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986) was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving President of Finland (1956–1982). Previously, he had served as Prime Minister of Finland (1950–1953, 1954–1956), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1952–1953, 1954), Speaker of the Finnish Parliament (1948–1950) and Minister of Justice (1936–1937, 1944–1946, 1951). As president, Kekkonen continued the “active neutrality” policy of his predecessor President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, a doctrine that came to be known as the “Paasikivi–Kekkonen line”, under which Finland retained its independence while maintaining good relations and extensive trade with members of both NATO and the Warsaw Pact.