Vihtori Kosonen (1873–1934) was a Finnish journalist, publisher, and free-thinker.[1] [2]
Kosonen first worked as an editor at the Työmies newspaper, which was founded in 1895.[3] In 1898, he was forced to leave Finland due to the anti-socialist policies of the Finnish government under Russian governor Nikolay Bobrikov. He fled to America, where he became an influential figure in the American–Finnish workers' movement.[4] From 1903, he was the editor of the American Työmies newspaper.[5]
Kosonen decided to return to Finland in 1905.[4] He was involved in the activities of the Social Democratic Party, and served as editor of the Kansan Lehti newspaper.[6] During the 1905 Russian revolution, Kosonen organised shelter for refugees from the Baltic region of the Russian Empire, also helped organise the December 1905 Tampere bolshevik conference.[6] [2] In February 1906, he helped Latvian revolutionary Jānis Čoke, who was later revealed to have taken part in the robbery of the Russian State Bank branch in Helsinki.[6]