Sophie Mannerheim Jr. - Later Life and Legacy

Later Life and Legacy

After his resignation, Mannerheim bought Kirkniemi Manor in Lohja, intending to spend his retirement there. In June 1946, he was operated on for a perforated peptic ulcer, and in October of that year he was diagnosed with a duodenal ulcer. In early 1947, it was recommended that he should travel to the Valmont Sanatorium in Montreux, Switzerland, to recuperate and write his memoirs. Valmont was to be Mannerheim's main residence for the remainder of his life, although he regularly returned to Finland, and also visited Sweden, France and Italy.

Because Mannerheim was old and sickly, he personally wrote only certain passages of his memoirs; some other parts he dictated and described, and the remaining parts were written by his various assistants, such as Colonel Aladár Paasonen, General Erik Heinrichs, other Generals Grandell, Olenius and Martola, and Colonel Viljanen, who was also a war historian. As long as Mannerheim was able to read, he proofread the typewritten drafts of his memoirs. He was almost totally quiet about his private life, and focused instead on Finland's events - especially on those between 1917 and 1944. When Mannerheim had a fatal stomach attack in January 1951, his memoirs were not yet in their finished form. They were published after his death.

Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim died on 27 January 1951 (which was already 28 January in Finland) in the Cantonal Hospital in Lausanne, Switzerland. He was buried on 4 February 1951 in the Hietaniemi Cemetery in Helsinki in a state funeral with full military honours, and today retains respect as Finland's greatest statesman. This may be partly due to his refusal to enter partisan politics (although his sympathies were more right-wing than left-wing), his claim to always serve the fatherland without selfish motives, his personal courage in visiting the frontlines, his ability to work diligently into his late seventies, and his foreign political farsightedness in preparing for the Soviet invasion of Finland years before it occurred. (see, for example, Jägerskiöld, "Mannerheim 1867–1951";"The Republic's Presidents 1940–1956" / Tasavallan presidentit 1940–1956, published in Finland in 1993-94).

Mannerheim's birthday, 4 June, is celebrated as the Flag Day of the Finnish Defence Forces. This decision was made by the Finnish government on the occasion of his 75th birthday in 1942, when he was also granted the title of Marshal of Finland. Flag Day is celebrated with a national parade, and rewards and promotions for members of the defence forces. The life and times of Mannerheim are depicted in the Mannerheim Museum.

Marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim was selected as the main motif in a recent Finnish commemorative coin, the €10 Mannerheim and Saint Petersburg commemorative coin, minted in 2003. The obverse of the coin features a portrait of the Marshal.

On 5 December 2004, Mannerheim was voted as the greatest Finnish person of all time in the Suuret suomalaiset (Great Finns) contest. A biographical film about Mannerheim's life is currently under way, directed by Renny Harlin.