Sylvia Mayme Kallio

First marriage to Count Marc Francois Marie Ramond Bighetti de Flogny, of Nice, France in 1934. http://www.gpbarchives.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/1934_December...

US Census 1940: "Sylvia Bighetti de Flogny" married, residence Beaver Twp, Aitkin, MN; last residence Brazzaville, Kongo, Africa.

Second marriage in 1951 to Niilo Kalervo Kallio (28 Mar 1909 Nivala, FI - 2 Nov 1969 Helsinki, FI), the son of president Kyösti Kallio. Niilo Kalervo Kallio of 1749 18th Street N.W., Washington D.C. arrived in New York aboard SAS SK 911 from Stockholm on 14 Nov 1951.

Sylvia Kallio arrival in New York aboard SAS SK 905 from Helsinki on 21 Feb 1953. Sylvia De Flogny Kallio arrival in New York aboard SAS SK 905 from Stockholm on 26 Dec 1953. Sylvia D F Kallio and Niilo K Kallio arrival in New York aboard SAS SK 902 from Copenhagen on 29 Jun 1955.

Obituary - Brainerd Dispatch WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Sylvia Anderson Kallio, 94, Washington, D.C., formerly of Beaver Township in Aitkin County, died Wednesday, June 20, 2001, at her home.

She was born March 29, 1907, in Arthyde to Abraham and Susannah Anderson. She attended Duluth Washington School and Central High School before graduating from Senn High School in Chicago. She studied French at the University of Texas, the Sorbonne in Paris and Catholic University in Washington, D.C. She married Count Marc Beghetti de Flogny in 1934. They lived in Nice, France, and in the French Congo. She volunteered for Dr. Albert Schweitzer. Fluent in seven languages, she worked as an interpreter for the Allied Forces in France during World War II. She also raised money for the French Red Cross and worked as an intermediary procuring false identification cards for Jews living in occupied France.

After a divorce, she married sculptor Kalervo Kallio, son of the president of Finland. As a linguist, she arranged meetings for Albert Einstein, Dr. Schweitzer, President Harry Truman and Gen. Douglas MacArthur to sit for Kalervo Kallio. They later divorced and she became a 50-year resident of Washington, D.C. She taught French in Washington, D.C., schools for 15 years. She was awarded the Bronze Cross from the Red Cross in France and the Knight First Class Order White Rose of Finland, one of Finland's highest civilian honors.

Survivors include a brother, Harold Anderson, Beaver Township, Aitkin County.

Four sisters, Hannah, Hilja, Daisy and Esther, and two brothers, William and Edward, died earlier.

Services will be 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Beaver Church in Beaver Township in Aitkin County on Highway 27. Burial will be in Beaver Township Cemetery.

Obituary - The Washington Post

Teacher Sylvia Kallio
Sylvia Anderson Kallio, 94, who taught French at Murch Elementary School in Washington for 15 years in the 1960s and 1970s, died June 20 at home in Washington. She had Parkinson's disease.

Mrs. Kallio was the former wife of the Finnish sculptor Kalervo Kallio and the former daughter-in-law of Kyosti Kallio, who had served four times as premier of Finland and 15 times as president of Finland's parliament.

From 1934 until their divorce in 1948, she was married to Count Marc de Flogny of France. During that time, she accompanied him on assignment for the French Colonial Service to French Equatorial Africa, where she did volunteer work in the hospital of Albert Schweitzer.

During World War II, she worked for the Red Cross in France. Later, as an agent of the French Resistance, she was an intermediary in the issuance of false identification cards to Jews seeking to escape Nazi-occupied France. For her efforts, she received the Medaille de Reconnaissance.

Mrs. Kallio was born in Arthyde, Minn., and was a graduate of the University of Texas. She did postgraduate study at the Sorbonne in Paris and received a master's degree in languages from Catholic University in Washington.

During her years in Africa with the count, she kept a pet cheetah, Chitqann, taking it across the Sahara on her return to France shortly before the war began.

She met Kalervo Kallio on a trip to Finland in 1948. Three years later, they were married, and they settled in Washington in the early 1950s. By this time, Kalervo Kallio had gained international fame by winning the 1949 sculpture competition to do the bust of James Forrestal, the first U.S. secretary of defense. He would later do busts of President Harry Truman, Albert Einstein, United Mine Workers chief John L. Lewis, Vice President Alben Barkley, Gen. Douglas MacArthur and President Herbert Hoover. They later divorced. He died in 1969.

In addition to teaching French at Murch School, Mrs. Kallio did volunteer work in Washington. She donated artwork to the Kallio Museum in Finland. In 1983, she received the White Rose of Finland award, one of that country's highest civilian honors.

Survivors include a brother, Harold Anderson of Beaver Township, Minn.

Suomen Kuvalehti, 23.11.1935, nro 47, s. 14
https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/889710?page=14
Kansalliskirjaston digitaaliset aineistot

Suomen Kuvalehti, 23.11.1935, nro 47, s. 15
https://digi.kansalliskirjasto.fi/aikakausi/binding/889710?page=15
Kansalliskirjaston digitaaliset aineistot