Suuret suomalaiset (Great Finns) was a 2004 television show broadcast in Finland by Yle (the Finnish Broadcasting Company), which determined the 100 greatest Finns of all time according to the opinions of its viewers. The viewers were able to vote during a programme which lasted from October to December 2004. The show was a Finnish spin-off of the BBC's programme Great Britons.

The list

The winner

During the final stage of voting, people had the chance to vote for the following three leading candidates: Risto Ryti, C.G.E. Mannerheim and Urho Kekkonen. The winner was baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, a war hero, Marshal of Finland, and president.

Top Ten

Facetious voting and speculation on manipulated results

Everybody in the top ten can be regarded as "serious" candidates, but right after those first ten are a number of candidates that have probably been selected in a more humorous sense. Positions 11–14 are held by: After the results were published, much speculation started on the issue of whether Yle had manipulated the results to keep facetious candidates out of the top ten. Yle has condemned the accusations but has refused to publish the number of votes that candidates below top ten received. The person most conspicuously not appearing on the list is the international diplomat and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, who has been a perennial favourite in Finland for the Nobel Peace Prize, and was finally awarded it in 2008.

Advocates

In broadcast order:

Other editions

Other countries have produced similar shows; see Greatest Britons spin-offs