Baron Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim (4 June 1867 – 27 January 1951 ) was a Finnish military leader and statesman. Widely regarded by Finns and non-Finns alike as the father of the modern independent state of Finland, Mannerheim served as the military leader of the Whites in the Finnish Civil War, Commander-in-Chief of Finland's Defence Forces during World War II, Marshal of Finland, Regent of Finland (1918–1919), and the sixth President of Finland (1944–1946).