Juho Kusti Paasikivi ([ˈjuɦo ˈkusti ˈpɑːsiˌkiʋi]; 27 November 1870 - 14 December 1956) was the seventh President of Finland (1946-1956). Representing the Finnish Party and the National Coalition Party, he also served as Prime Minister of Finland (1918 and 1944-1946), and was an influential figure in Finnish economics and politics for over fifty years. He is remembered as a main architect of Finland's foreign policy after the Second World War.

Birth and childhood

Paasikivi was born Johan Gustaf Hellsten in 1870 at Hämeenkoski in Päijänne Tavastia in Southern Finland, to Tampere-based travelling merchant August Hellsten and his wife, Karolina Wilhelmina, née Selin. Paasikivi's mother died when he was four, and his father died in debt when Paasikivi was 14. Paasikivi's half-sister Karolina died soon after. Upon his father's death, Paasikivi's aunt, Kaisa Hagman, assumed responsibility for his raising. Paasikivi Finnicized his name to Juho Kusti Paasikivi in 1885.