Julius Sundblom

Who was Julius Sundblom?

August Julius Sundblom was an editor and politician on the Åland Islands, Finland.

Sundblom founded Tidningen Åland in 1891, and was its editor-in-chief during 1891 - 1896 and 1921 - 1945. He was also editor-in-chief of Västra Nyland 1895 - 1900, during which time he lived in Turku, Finland.

Following Finland's declaration of independence in 1917, Sundblom became one of the leading figures of the Åland movement. The movements goal of returning Åland to Sweden resulted in the Åland Crisis. Before the resolution of the crisis, Sundblom, along with Carl Björkman, was arrested by Finnish police and spent a few days in prison, accused of high treason.

In 1922, Sundblom became the first speaker of the Landstinget, which had been instituted in accordance with the Finnish Autonomy Act of 1920 as part of the solution to the Åland Crisis.