Kustaa Gideon Vilkuna was a Finnish ethnologist, linguist, and historian. Vilkuna was a member of the Academic Karelia Society (AKS) until resigning in 1932 and again from 1942 to 1944. He was appointed a professor of ethnology at the University of Helsinki in 1950. In politics, he was a member of the Agrarian League and the Minister of Education in Reino Kuuskoski's cabinet. He was also closely associated with President Urho Kekkonen, even being described as the éminence grise of Kekkonen.