Risto Ryti

Risto Ryti KCVO
5th President of Finland
In office 19 December 1940 – 4 August 1944
Prime Minister	Jukka Rangell Edwin Linkomies
Preceded by	Kyösti Kallio
Succeeded by	C. G. E. Mannerheim
14th Prime Minister of Finland
In office 1 December 1939 – 19 December 1940
President	Kyösti Kallio
Preceded by	Aimo Cajander
Succeeded by	Jukka Rangell
Minister of Finance
In office 14 November 1922 – 18 January 1924
Prime Minister	Kyösti Kallio
Preceded by	Ernst Gråsten
Succeeded by	Hugo Relander
In office 9 April 1921 – 2 June 1922
Prime Minister	Juho Vennola
Preceded by	Jonathan Wartiovaara
Succeeded by	Ernst Gråsten
Personal details
Born	Risto Heikki Ryti (1889-02-03)3 February 1889 Huittinen, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire
Died	25 October 1956(1956-10-25) (aged 67) Helsinki, Finland
Political party	National Progressive
Spouse	Gerda Ryti (née Serlachius)
Children	Henrik Ryti Niilo Ryti Eva Saxén (née Ryti)
Signature
Risto Ryti's voice Announcing the Continuation War Recorded June 26, 1941

Risto Heikki Ryti (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈristo ˈhei̯kːi ˈryti]; 3 February 1889 – 25 October 1956) was a Finnish politician who served as the fifth president of Finland from 1940 to 1944.^[1] Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and as a political background figure during the interwar period. He made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the framework of the League of Nations. Ryti served as prime minister during the Winter War and the Interim Peace, and as president during the Continuation War.

Ryti penned the 1944 Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement – named after himself and Joachim von Ribbentrop – a personal letter to Nazi German Führer Adolf Hitler whereby Ryti agreed not to reach a separate peace in the Continuation War against the Soviet Union without approval from Nazi Germany, in order to secure German military aid for Finland to stop the Soviet Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive against Finland.^[2] His resignation soon afterwards allowed his successor, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, to bypass the agreement and make peace with the Soviet Union once the offensive had been stopped.

After the war, Ryti was the main defendant in the Finnish war-responsibility trials (1945–1946),^[3] which resulted in his conviction for crimes against peace. He was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment but was pardoned by decision of President Juho Kusti Paasikivi in 1949. His reputation was largely unscathed, but his health had suffered and he never returned to public life.