Oskari Tokoi

Antti Oskari Tokoi, known by his middle name, (May 15, 1873 – April 4, 1963) was a Finnish socialist who served as a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. During the short-lived Revolution of 1918, Tokoi participated as a leading figure in the revolutionary government. Tokoi later emigrated to the United States of America, where he served as the long-time editor of Raivaaja (The Pioneer), the newspaper of the Finnish Socialist Federation.

Life and Politics

Early years

Oskari Tokoi was born as Oskari Hirvi in Yliviirre parish, Kannus in the Central Ostrobothnia region of Finland on May 15, 1873. His father, Kalle Hirvi, was a farmer.

After he emigrated to America in 1891, Tokoi worked as a miner in the Western state of Wyoming and was a member of the radical Western Federation of Miners. Loss of employment in the mines later forced him to travel the Midwest in search of work, however.

Tokoi returned to Finland in 1900, where he worked as a farmer and a merchant.

Political career