Mannerheim. Russian Officer. Marshal of Finland

On 25 January 2005 a monographic exhibition dedicated to the memory of Carl Gustaf Mannerheim (1867-1951) opened in the General Staff building. This exhibition presents the unique and unusual career of a Russian officer, researcher and statesman of Finland. It occupies six rooms of the General Staff building and includes more than 600 exhibits dedicated to the life of Mannerheim, his times, and the people close to him. This exhibition pays tribute to a man whose life and fate belong to the history of both the Finnish and Russian peoples.

Besides the State Hermitage, the following organizations took part in preparing the exhibition: the St Petersburg Foundation, Helsinki, Finland; the State Archive of the Russian Federation, Moscow; the Russian State Archive of Military History, Moscow; the Ministry of Education of Finland; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland; the National Museum of Finland, Helsinki; the National Archive, Helsinki; the Mannerheim Museum, Helsinki; the Gallen-Kallela Museum, Espoî; the War Museum, Helsinki; the Louise and Goran Ehrnrooth Foundation; the Niilo Helander Foundation; the Information Center of Finnish Literature; the Cultural Foundation of Finland; and the Swedish Cultural Foundation. The exhibition also displays items from private collections in Finland.

The State Hermitage has prepared a scholarly illustrated catalogue which was published by the Slavia Publishing House and carries introductory remarks by Director of the State Hermitage Mikhail Piotrovsky and Director of the St Petersburg Foundation K. Ketola. The articles were written by staff of the State Hermitage, Finnish scholars, and staff of the State Archive of the Russian Foundation and of the Russian State Archive of Military History.

The curators of the exhibition are G. V. Vilinbakhov, deputy director of the State Hermitage for scholarly affairs and doctor of historical sciences; K. Karvonen-Kannas, director of the Gallen-Kallela Museum, Espoo, Finland; and V.A. Fedorov, director of the State Hermitage's Department of the History of Russian Culture.

Following its showing in the Hermitage, the exhibition will be presented in Finland.

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Koivisto Mauno Henrik, Finnish president 1982-1994

At the opening

At the exhibition

The exhibition catalogue