Learn Finnish: Onko itse kansleri tärkeämpi kuin valtion päämies? - Is the chancellor himself more important than the head of state?

In this sentence, itse acts as an intensifying appositive pronoun, meaning 'the chancellor himself' or 'the chancellor in person'. When used this way right before a noun, itse is uninflected. It stays as itse no matter what case the following noun is in (for example, if it were the object, you would say tapasin itse kanslerin).

How do we know itse here means 'himself' for emphasis, rather than doing an action to 'himself' (reflexive)?

The position and lack of a possessive suffix give it away. When placed directly before the noun without a suffix, itse is an intensifier. If it were a reflexive pronoun receiving an action (like 'the chancellor defended himself'), it would act as the object and take a possessive suffix, like itsensä.

Could we express the comparison without using the word kuin (than)?

Yes, you can use the partitive comparative structure. You drop the word kuin and put the thing being compared against into the partitive case. The sentence would become Onko itse kansleri tärkeämpi valtion päämiestä? Both structures are very common and mean the exact same thing.

What does the word päämies literally translate to, and is it only used for men?