Kaarlo Harvala

Harvala was born in Ruovesi on 5 September 1885.^[1] He was the secretary of the Union of Finnish Landlords in Tampere between 1912 and 1918.^[1] He was arrested in 1918 due to his political views.^[1] Following his release from prison he worked as an editor-in-chief of Kansan Sana newspaper and Kansan magazine in Tampere.^[1] Then he became the editor of Sosialist newspaper in Turku in 1919 and remained in the post until 1923.^[2]

He became a member of the Parliament on 5 September 1922 and served there until 31 August 1939.^[2] In 1930 he was elected as the leader of Social Democratic Party, replacing Matti Paasivuori in the post.^[3] Harvala remained in the post until he died in Helsinki on 31 August 1942.^[1][3]