INTRODUCE
The
Society for Viipuri School of Economics was established on 21 January
1919 in the city of Vyborg (Finnish: Viipuri). Founded in 1403, Vyborg
was the most important trading centre of its time in Eastern Finland,
and the second largest city in the early years of Finnish independence,
which was gained in 1917.
Vyborg was the most
multicultural and international city in Finland with worldwide
commercial contacts that were especially animated in the Baltic region.
The
original aim of the Society for Viipuri School of Economics was to
raise funds for founding a school of economics in Vyborg. The
fund-raising got off to a promising start, but the goal set by the
society – 10 million Finnish marks – was never reached. The work of the
foundation came to a halt when the Soviet Union attacked Finland on 30
November 1939. In the aftermath of two wars, Finland was forced to cede
vast territories to the Soviet Union, including the Karelian Isthmus
where Vyborg was situate
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