Ukki Väinämöinen

Ukki Väinämöinen (lit. 'Grandfather Väinämöinen'), born Vasily Sidorov (Russian: Василий Сидоров), also known as Vaseli Levonen (1855 – 1 January 1942), was an Karelian ideological leader known for his role in the East Karelian uprising.[1]

Vasily Sidorov
Sidorov in 1938, Finland.
Other name(s)Vaseli Levonen
Nickname(s)Ukki Väinämöinen
Born1855
Tunguda, Russian Empire
DiedJanuary 1, 1942(1942-01-01) (aged 86–87)
Vuokatti. Finland
AllegianceForest Guerrillas
Battles/warsEast Karelian uprising

Life

Vasily Leontievich Sidorov was born in 1855, in the Karelian village of Tunguda, then a part of the Russian Empire.[2]

Karelian uprising

Sidorov was elected as the leader of the Finnish Forest Guerrillas that lead a conflict against the Russian Bolsheviks and Karelian Labor Commune during the Russian Civil War. Sidorov was a zealous Christian and an anti-communist, and was very popular among the Karelians. Physically. Sidorov was a short, stocky man that had a long beard, much like Väinämöinen from the Finnish mythology. This similarity in appearance caused him to be called Ukki Väinämöinen, literally meaning Grandfather Väinämöinen.[3]

By the end of December 1921, the Karelian rebels supported by Finnish volunteers, controlled a significant part of Northeast Karelia, and only then the Bolshevik leadership formed the Karelian Front led by Alexander Sedyakin, numbering around some 20 thousand servicemen. The Bolsheviks captured Ukhta, the rebel stronghold, by mid-February 1922 and the Karelian resistance was finally broken. Ukki Väinämöinen fled to Finland with the other rebels. He died on 1 January 1942, in Vuokatti.[3]

References
  1. Niinistö, p. 100.
  2. Niinistö, p. 98.
  3. "Tahvo Liljeblad ja Aili Virkkunen". Karjalan kielen sanakirja (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 24 November 2021.

Sources
  • Niinistö, Jussi (1998). "Jalmari Takkinen - sissipäällikkö Ilmarinen". Suomalaisia soturikohtaloita (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomalaisuuden liitto. ISBN 951-96348-5-1.

Further reading
  • Kauppinen, Jukka (2007). "Terveisiä Vienasta : Vienan Väinämöinen, museon ystävä ja asiamies itäisen yhteyden avaajana". Carelia (in Finnish) (1): 145–151.
  • Niinistö, Jussi (2001). "Duodecimin ambulanssit Itä-Karjalan sodassa 1921–1922". Lääketieteellinen Aikakauskirja Duodecim (in Finnish). Helsinki: Suomalainen Lääkäriseura Duodecim. 117 (21): 2153–2159.
  • "Ukki Väinämöinen metsäsissien isänä". Karjalan heimo (in Finnish). 82 (5–6): 87–88. 1998.
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