Upcoming events
Friedrich Karl of Hesse – the first, last, and never King of Finland.
Mar 13, 2025
We know the richly storied accounts of Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian royalty and nobility dating back over 1000 years to Viking times. But, what about Finland – did the Finns and Finland ever have their own King, or were they fated to ‘make do’ by sharing other people’s sovereigns?
The picture is of Landgraf Friedrich Karl of Hesse (1.5.1868 – 28.5.1940), and his wife Landgräfin Margarethe, Princess of Prussia (1872-1954).
Prince Friedrich Karl, Landgraf of Hesse, was the brother-in-law of Kaiser Wilhelm II, having married Kaiser Wilhelm’s sister, Princess Margarethe (grand-daughter of Queen Victoria) in January 1893.
At the fateful moments in 1918, Friedrich Karl was 50, married, with 6 sons (two sets of twins, one set died fighting in WW1).
Friedrich Karl was elected King of Finland on 9 October 1918, but renounced the throne just 66 days later on 14 December 1918. He never even managed to get to Finland at all!
However, was he in fact ever legally elected? By whom? How? Under what circumstances, and constitution?
It’s time we delved into a little-known curious by-way of history, which in many ways resembles the way that Sweden acquired the Royal House of Bernadotte, in 1809/1810.
David Goldsmith will take us through the maze of muddle, mishap and machination, which characterised the accession (or not) of Friedrich Karl of Hesse – the first, last, and never-King of Finland.
A pre-talk reception and lunch are being organised in Lincoln’s Inn with details and prices to follow nearer the time.
This event is organised in cooperation with the Anglo-Swedish Society.
Tove Jansson
Apr 3, 2025
Sophia Jansson will give a talk about her aunt, the legendary Tove Jansson. This event is organised in cooperation with the Anglo-Swedish Society and other partner organisations. Details to follow nearer the time.
Annual General Meeting
Apr 9, 2025
Our AGM date has now been set with further details to follow nearer to the time to Members of the Society.
Vappu-Valborg Lunch
May 1, 2025
Our Vappu-Valborg Lunch this year is being organised in the Hall of Gray’s Inn – details to follow nearer the time.
‘Scandinavian Modern’: Nordic Design Behind the Scenes
Sep 23, 2025
Finnish designers played a huge part in the ‘Scandinavian Modern’ movement of the 1950s. It was a style that took America and Europe by storm with its cool functionality, natural materials and organic curves. But, lurking behind the scenes, were hidden hands and powerful political projects. It wasn’t just the social democratic urge to change consumer taste into something more rational. Nordic design became embroiled in a US plot to unite the West under one ‘democratic’ design idiom, to unsettle the Soviet bloc, and to demonstrate that America had culture and taste. Indeed Finland covertly used the opportunity to display its Western credentials to America at a time of Finlandisation.
This illustrated talk features designers and architects including Alvar & Aino Aalto, Tapio Wirkkala, Timo Sarpaneva, Bruno Mathsson, Josef Frank, Astrid Sampe, Hans Wegner, Finn Juhl, Arne Jacobsen, Charles & Ray Eames and George Nelson. It looks at major design exhibitions between 1930 and 1960 in Stockholm, Berlin, the United States, Helsinki, Helsingborg and Moscow. And it examines why modernism became such a useful Cold War tool, why ‘Finnish’ design suddenly became ‘Scandinavian’, and how a functionalist movement for the masses was transformed into an elite luxury style.
Bio:
James Vaux is a member of the Anglo-Finnish Society and an Accredited Arts Society Lecturer, specialising in Nordic art and design and modernism more generally. In 2025 he has 50 talks all over the country and hopes to spread a wider understanding of Nordic culture. He holds a recent MA in Scandinavian Studies (Language, Culture and History) from UCL, where his dissertation was on the politics of Nordic design in the Cold War. He has also studied design at the Inchbald School and Mid-Century Modern at Sotheby’s Institute. Before retirement he was a managing director and global partner of the international bank Rothschild & Co. He was head of the bank’s Nordic operations, which he founded together with Pehr Gyllenhammar. He lived and worked in Stockholm, and amongst other roles across the region he acted as an adviser to the Finnish, Danish and Swedish Ministries of Finance.
A pre-talk drinks reception and lunch are also being organised in Lincoln’s Inn with details to follow nearer the time.