Quick Facts
Biography
Eemil Nestor Setälä, (27 February 1864 in Kokemäki – 8 February 1935 in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician and once the Chairman of the Senate of Finland, from September 1917 to November 1917.
Setälä was a linguist, professor of Finnish language and literature at Helsinki University from 1893 to 1929. He was a major influence on the study of Finnish language, and the founder of the research institute Suomen suku ("The Family of the Finnish Language").
His political activities led him to be elected several times to the parliament, for the Young Finnish Party and for the National Coalition Party. For a brief period at the end of World War I, he served as acting head of state as the Chairman of the Senate. Later Setälä held cabinet posts as of the minister of education (1925) and the Foreign Minister (1925-1926).
He was the ambassador of Finland to Denmark and Hungary from 1927 to 1930.
He is buried in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki.