| Jussi Merinen | |
| Office1: | Member of the Parliament of Finland |
| Constituency1: | Turku Province North |
| Term Start1: | 22 May 1907 |
| Term End1: | 31 July 1908 |
| Birth Name: | Juho Rikard Mustelin |
| Birth Date: | 20 October 1873 |
| Birth Place: | Tyrvää, Russian Empire |
| Death Place: | Tyrvää, Finland |
| Party: | Social Democratic Party of Finland |
| Occupation: | Carpenter |
Juho Rikard Merinen (20 October 187320 April 1918) was a Finnish trade unionist, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Turku Province North between May 1907 and July 1908.[1] He was executed by the White Guard during the Finnish Civil War.
Merinen was born on 20 October 1873 in Tyrvää.[1] [2] He was educated at folk school and Satakunta Agricultural Society's sculpture school.[1] [3] He worked as a carpenter and a farmhand in Tyrvää.[1] [4]
The Stormi Workers' Association (Stormin työväenyhdistystä) was founded in May 1906.[5] Merinen, together with his brother August Merinen and Kalle Tyrvää from Laukula, were the key figures behind the association and Jussi was its first chairman.[5] Merinen was a speaker at the first general crofters meeting (Ensimmäinen yleinen torpparikokous) organised by the Social Democratic Party in 1906.[1] [4] He was elected to the Parliament of Finland at the 1907 parliamentary election.[6] [7] He also contested the 1908, 1913 and 1917 parliamentary elections.[8] [9] [10]
Following the outbreak of the Finnish Civil War, the local branch of the social democrats took over the function of the local municipal council.[5] None of the members of the Stormi Workers' Association met with the local Red delegation nor were they appointed to the institutions set up by delegation.[5] Stormi Workers' Association members weren't Red Guard officers either.[5] Later, the Red Guards established a regional council in Stormi, primarily for civil administration purposes, which included members of the Stormi Workers' Association.[5]
After their victory in the Battle of Karkku in April 1918, most of the leaders of the Stormi Workers' Association were killed by the White Guard.[5] Merinen was executed by the White Guard on 20 April 1918 in Tyrvää.[1] [2] He was buried at Tyrvää Church.[11] In September 2018 a new monument to 527 Reds killed in the civil war, including Merinen, was inaugurated at Tyrvää Church.[12] [13]