The Lepikko torp (Finnish: Lepikon torppa) is a mid-19th-century torp or croft house located in Pielavesi, central Finland, notable as the birthplace of the 8th President of Finland, Urho Kekkonen (1900–1986).[2]
| Lepikko torp | |
|---|---|
Lepikon torppa | |
 Lepikko torp in 2010 | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Address | Urho Kekkosentie 121 |
| Town or city | Pielavesi |
| Country | Finland |
| Coordinates | 63°13′17″N 26°47′01″E / 63.2214°N 26.7836°E |
| Current tenants | Urho Kekkonen Birthplace Museum |
| Year(s) built | 1860s |
| Renovated | 1960s[1] |
| Owner | Lepikko Foundation[2] |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Timber |
| Known for | Birthplace of Urho Kekkonen |
| Website | |
| www | |
The building is constructed of rough-hewn logs, and originally consisted of a single room. When the Kekkonens moved in, they modernised the building, including adding a chimney (previously the primitive stove had none).[2]
The Kekkonens were not actually croft farmers; Urho's father, forestry manager Juho Kekkonen, had rented the house, as it was conveniently located for his job at the time.[2][1] Nevertheless, when Urho Kekkonen first ran for the presidency, the cottage featured in his campaign, to support his common-man image as the "boy from the torp"; even the chimney was edited out of a well-publicised photograph of the building, to underline its modest standing.[2]
In 1966, the torp was converted into Kekkonen's birthplace museum.[3]
The building has been designated and protected by the Finnish Heritage Agency as a nationally important built cultural environment (Valtakunnallisesti merkittävä rakennettu kulttuuriympäristö).[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c "Lepikon torppa". RKY.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Heritage Agency. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ a b c d e Häikiö, Martti (26 August 2016). "Kekkonen, Urho (1900-1986)". Suomen kansallisbiografia. Studia Biographica (in Finnish). Vol. 4. Finnish Literature Society. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
- ^ Perälä, Reijo (2 September 2020). "Urho Kekkosen syntymäkoti oli vaatimaton Lepikon torppa" [Urho Kekkonen's birthplace was the modest Lepikko torp] (in Finnish). Yle. Retrieved 27 July 2024.
