Veikko Hursti: Tireless advocate of the poor

Veikko Hursti

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By Hannele Tulonen
     
      Veikko Hursti, known for the Christmas dinners and other celebrations he arranged for the poor and homeless in Helsinki, died at the age of 80 of a sudden illness on May 10th, 2005 at his home in the Herttoniemi district of the capital. He was born in Helsinki on November 25th, 1924.
      As recently as Christmas Eve last year Veikko Hursti served as host to well over 3,000 guests at the Töölö Arena in Helsinki. Helsinki's Social Affairs Board helped finance the event during several years, and many volunteers worked there.
      "Veikko Hursti was a proclaimer and defender of the Gospel with a fiery soul", said Helsinki's Lutheran Bishop Eero Huovinen on Tuesday after hearing of Hursti's death.
      "Veikko Hursti had a Bible in one hand, and a bag of groceries in the other. As a personality he was winning and uncomplicated, and he approached all people as equals, regardless of their social position", Huovinen explained.
     
Hursti started out in advertising, but his career was interrupted by the Winter War. When the war broke out he volunteered for the boys' corps of the Finnish Suojeluskunta, or Civil Guard organisation.
      He fought in the Continuation War as a volunteer for two years.
      In his youth, Hursti's jobs included that of a tightrope walker and a strongman in a circus. He was also seen as a strongman in his cheerful and energetic work in behalf of alcoholics, the homeless, and other downtrodden fellow human beings. In addition to material help, he always had spiritual guidance to offer.
      He came to his Christian conviction as a result of tribulations that confronted his family. Hursti himself had problems with alcohol, but in the 1960s he resolved never to touch booze again.
      "When times are bad we have the understanding to accept God. During the Winter War we kneeled before God and got our independence. Now in the rubbish boxes, under bridges, and in stairwells, people are praying", he proclaimed during the recession in 1991. "The recession is here, because people in Finland do not care about the Word of God."
      "That Hursti talks differently, and doesn't seem to force his religion on people", said one of those attending a camp for alcoholics in Kuusiluoto in Helsinki in 1981.
     
Some of the country's most famous artists performed at concerts that he arranged.
      In his youth, Hursti - who studied art at the Ateneum - painted, and his works were on display last summer at an exhibition at the Harjutori Centre in Kallio.
      President Mauno Koivisto gave Veikko Hursti and his wife Lahja Hursti the Pro Benignitate Humana medal for their charitable work in 1986.
      In 1995 Hursti was awarded a golden Helsinki Medal, and in 1993 he was named Uusimaa Resident of the Year.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 11.5.2005


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Veikko Hursti 1924-2005 (11.5.2005)

HANNELE TULONEN / Helsingin Sanomat
hannele.tulonen@hs.fi