Ernst Tandefelt

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Knut Ernst Robert Tandefelt (born March 10, 1876 in Sysmä, Finland; died May 3, 1948 in Nikkilä psychiatric hospital in Sipoo, Finland) was a Finland-Swedish nobleman.

The mentally unstable Tandefelt shot the Finnish Minister of Internal Affairs Heikki Ritavuori dead at Ritavuori's home door at Nervanderinkatu 11 in Etu-Töölö, Helsinki on February 14, 1922 to affect Finland's politics in the Kindred Nations Wars (heimosodat) taking place in Eastern Karelia. The event was the only murder of a government minister and the only political assassination in the entire history of independent Finland.

Tandefelt has often been suspected of having acted because of an extreme right-wing conspiracy, but there is no binding evidence of the matter. Tandefelt himself said he acted alone.

Tandefelt was sentenced to life imprisonment of hard labor. Later, the Supreme Court of Finland ordered him to mental health examination. Tandefelt was found to be partially legally insane and the sentence was lowered to 12 years of hard labor. Tandefelt died in the Nikkilä mental hospital on May 3, 1948.