History | Feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who died this week, was also known to Finns as a CIA operative in Helsinki

Gloria Steinem is widely remembered as a feminist icon, but in Finland her name carries another association: a CIA operation in Helsinki during the early 1960s.

Steinem played a central role in what became known as second-wave feminism. She campaigned tirelessly for women’s rights, equality at work and the prevention of domestic violence. In the United States, she became such an iconic figure that a television series about her was titled “Mrs. America,” a series also available in Finland through HBO.

Her Finnish connection came from a very different kind of work. Steinem arrived in Helsinki in the 1960s to serve as a CIA operative and lead a front organization funded by the agency. The period was politically feverish. The United States and the Soviet Union were competing for influence in Europe, while Finland, formally neutral, had moved deeply toward a cautious policy shaped by fear of its powerful neighbor.

The Soviet Union used Finland as a symbol of the supposed comforts of life within its sphere of influence. As part of that effort, it promoted a major youth festival in Helsinki in 1962. The event ran for 10 days and was expected to draw more than 10,000 participants from over 100 countries, with organizers estimating the final attendance at 18,000. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was its biggest star.

The festival was intended not only to win over Finnish young people. It also served as propaganda aimed at future leaders from Latin America, Africa and Asia. American jazz musicians Archie Shepp and Bill Dixon, along with the prominent Marxist activist Angela Davis, were brought to perform. Their presence was meant to signal that the Soviet cause supported influential Black figures and cultural voices. Finnish historian Jari Sedergren later documented the festival, which became a formative experience for Helsinki’s young people and inspired Taru Mäkelä’s 2013 film “August Fools.”