Tuomas Gerdt, the last living Knight of the Mannerheim Cross, died on 1 November 2020.

The honour, proposed by and named after Field Marshal Gustaf Mannerheim, was introduced after the Winter War on 16 December 1940.

Associated with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, the decoration was awarded to soldiers for exceptional bravery, for the achievement of crucially important objectives by combat, or for especially successfully conducted operations.

Originally planned to be a lifetime pension, the prize was eventually set at 50,000 Finnish marks, approximately equivalent to a lieutenant's annual salary.

Both General Major Aaro Pajari and Colonel Martti Aho received their second crosses on 16 October 1944.

They were followed by Lentomestari Ilmari Juutilainen and Captain Hans Wind, who both received their second awards on 26 June 1944.

[14] Starting from the presidency of Martti Ahtisaari, all surviving recipients of the Mannerheim Cross were invited annually on 6 December to Finland's Independence Day Reception.