Kekkonen

[kek-uh-nuhn, kek-kaw-nen]

noun

1. Urho Kaleva 1900–86, Finnish statesman: president 1956–81.

Kekkonen

/ ˈkɛkkɔnɛn /

noun

1. Urho (ˈurhɔ). (1900–86), Finnish statesman; president (1956–81)

Example Sentences

In Scandinavia, "sauna diplomacy" has long been used to lubricate high-level talks - in the 1960s, Finnish president Urho Kekkonen took the leader of the Soviet Union, Nikita Krushchev, into an all-night sauna to persuade him to allow Finland to repair relations with the West.

Read more on BBC

Former Finnish President Urho Kekkonen, an architect of the policy of cooperation with the neighboring Soviet Union and a champion of world peace, helped craft the Helsinki Accords, a historic agreement signed in 1975 by the U.S., the Soviet Union, Canada and every European nation except Albania aimed at improving détente between the Soviet Union and the West.

Read more on Salon

In the 1960s, Finland's Cold War leader - Urho Kekkonen - took the then President of the Soviet Union Nikita Khrushchev into an all-night sauna and persuaded him to allow Finland to integrate with the West.

Read more on BBC

He is compared by some to Urho Kekkonen, who took power in 1956 and ruled Finland for 25 years, during the so-called Finlandization period of the Cold War.

Read more on New York Times

“My generation had Kekkonen and he was the father of the country. And he is a little something like that. It’s a pity that he must leave office soon.”

Read more on New York Times