1.
Prime Minister of Finland
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The Prime Minister is the Head of Government of Finland. The Prime Minister is appointed by the President, who is the Head of State, the current Prime Minister is Juha Sipilä of the Centre Party. Parliament must ratify the nominated Prime Minister with an majority in a vote without other candidates. If the nominee doesnt receive sufficient support, then a new round of negotiations, the Presidents formal appointment follows Parliaments election. The above procedure was first used to elect Anneli Jäätteenmäki to the premiership in 2003, previously it was assumed that the President would nominate the candidate who in a third round of voting would have gained a relative majority, usually the leader of the largest party. Formally, the Prime Minister nominates the members of the Council of State. Although the Prime Minister is one of the leading political figures. This is mainly because no one party has a chance of winning an outright majority. A Prime Minister usually leads a coalition of three or more parties. The Cabinet follows a government platform agreed upon by the participating parties, kesäranta, located in the Meilahti area of Helsinki, has been the official residence of the Prime Minister of Finland since 1919. Since its independence, Finland has had 71 cabinets, including the current one, the salary of the prime minister is by law the same as the salary of the Speaker of the Parliament, which is €11,675 a month. In addition, the prime minister receives a half of the salary to which he or she is entitled as a sitting member of Parliament. The full parliamentary salary is currently at least €6,335 a month, the salary is subject to normal income tax. The prime minister is entitled to a 30-day leave during each calendar year, the maintenance, staff and services of the official residence is paid for by the government. The prime minister has transportation and security services at their disposal at all times, List of Prime Ministers of Finland List of presidents of Finland Media related to Prime ministers of Finland at Wikimedia Commons Official site From Senate to independent Government
2.
Mauno Koivisto
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Mauno Henrik Koivisto is a Finnish politician who served as the ninth President of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served twice as Prime Minister, from 1968 to 1970 and 1979 to 1982 and he was the first Social Democrat to be elected President of Finland. At age 93, Koivisto is currently the oldest living former Finnish president, Koivisto was born in Turku, Finland, the second son of Juho Koivisto, a carpenter at Crichton-Vulcan shipyard, and Hymni Sofia Eskola, who died when he was 10. After attending primary school, Koivisto worked a number of jobs, during the Continuation War, Koivisto served in the Infantry Detachment Törni led by the famous Lauri Törni, which was a reconnaissance detachment operating behind enemy lines. This detachment was only open to selected volunteers, during the war he received the Order of the Cross of Liberty and was promoted to the rank of corporal. While reflecting on his wartime experiences later in life, he said When you have taken part in a game in which your own life is at stake, after the war, he earned a living as a carpenter and became active in politics, joining the Social Democratic Party. In 1948 he found work at Turku harbor - in December that same year he was appointed manager of the Harbour Labour Office of Turku, Koivisto went to Hanko to take charge of the harbour-masters office and recruit workers to break the strike, the government having banned strike action. The Communist newspapers branded Koivisto as their number one due to his status as a major figure in the struggle for control of the trade unions. In addition to his engagements and ongoing career Koivisto continued with his education, passing his intermediate examination in 1947. In 1951 he became a school teacher, the following year he married Tellervo Kankaanranta. Together they had a daughter, Assi Koivisto, in 1957, Koivisto graduated from the University of Turku with a Master of Arts degree and a Licentiate in 1953, and had plans to become a sociologist. Three years later he completed his thesis, which looked at social relations in the Turku dockyards. Koivisto also served as a Vocational Counselor of the City of Turku, in 1957, he started working for the Helsinki Workers Savings Bank and served as its General Manager from 1959 to 1968. In 1968 he was appointed Chairman of the board of the Bank of Finland, the 1966 Social Democrat election victory saw the formation of a new government under Rafael Paasio, with Koivisto, the partys expert on economic policy, appointed Minister of Finance. He served as Prime Minister for two years until the Parliamentary election of 1970, which saw the parties in his coalition government suffer heavy losses. In the 1970s, President Kekkonen started to regard Koivisto as a rival and instead threw his weight behind Koivistos Social Democratic colleague. For most of the decade Koivisto concentrated mainly on his work as Chairman of the Bank of Finland until the 1979 elections saw him return as Prime Minister. By this point there was an increasing dissatisfaction with the aging President Kekkonen, whose failing health was becoming difficult to conceal, and also a perceived lack of change
3.
Martti Ahtisaari
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Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work. In October 2008, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts on several continents, the Nobel statement said that Ahtisaari has played a prominent role in resolving many conflicts in Namibia, Aceh, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq, among other areas. Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland and his father, Oiva Ahtisaari took Finnish citizenship in 1929 and changed his surname from Adolfsen in 1937. The Continuation War took Marttis father to the front as an NCO army mechanic, while his mother, Tyyne, Kuopio was where Ahtisaari spent most of his childhood, eventually attending the Kuopion Lyseo high school. In 1952, Martti Ahtisaari moved to Oulu with his family to seek employment, There he continued his education in high school, graduating in 1952. He also joined the local YMCA, after completing his military service, he began to study through a distance-learning course at Oulu teachers college. He was able to live at home while attending the course which enabled him to qualify as a primary-school teacher in 1959. Besides his native language, Finnish, Ahtisaari speaks Swedish, French, English, in 1960, he moved to Karachi, Pakistan, to lead the Swedish Pakistani Institutes physical education training establishment, where he became accustomed to a more international environment. In addition to managing the home, Ahtisaaris job involved training teachers. He returned to Finland in 1963, and became active in non-governmental organizations responsible for aid to developing countries and he joined the international students organisation AIESEC, where he discovered new passions about diversity and diplomacy. In 1965, he joined the Ministry for Foreign Ministry of Finland in its Bureau for International Development Aid, in 1968, he married Eeva Irmeli Hyvärinen. The couple has one son, Marko Ahtisaari, a noted musician, Ahtisaari spent several years as a diplomatic representative from Finland. He served as Finlands Ambassador to Tanzania from 1973 to 1977, from 1977 to 1981, he served as United Nations Commissioner for Namibia, working to secure the independence of Namibia from the Republic of South Africa. Ahtisaari took advice from British prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who was visiting the region at the time, a period of intense fighting ensued when at least 375 SWAPO insurgents were killed. Perhaps because of his reluctance to authorise this SADF deployment, Ahtisaari was alleged to have been targeted by the South African Civil Cooperation Bureau. According to a hearing in September 2000 of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to carry out the assault, Barnard had planned to use the grip handle of a metal saw as a knuckleduster. In the event, Ahtisaari did not attend the meeting at the Keetmanshoop Hotel, where Le Roux and Barnard lay in wait for him, after the independence elections of 1989, Ahtisaari was appointed an honorary Namibian citizen. South Africa gave him the O R Tambo award for his achievement as a diplomat and commitment to the cause of freedom in Africa
4.
Ilkka Kanerva
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Ilkka Armas Mikael Kanerva is a Finnish politician and a member of the Parliament of Finland. He was born in Lokalahti, now a part of Uusikaupunki in Southwest Finland and he was the Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2007 to 2008. Kanerva is a member of the National Coalition Party and he graduated with a masters degree in Political Science from the University of Turku in 1980. Kanerva was leader of the youth organisation Kokoomuksen Nuorten Liitto ry. from 1972 to 1976 and was first elected to the Finnish Parliament in 1975. As of 2011 he is the longest standing Member of Parliament and he has a rich experience in the Finnish national politics. During his public career, he has served as Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Labor, Minister of Transport, during the Finnish OSCE Chairmanship in 2008, Kanerva was the Chairman-in-Office of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe for 2008. In 2014 he was elected president of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE, currently Kanerva serves as Emeritus President and Special Representative on Mediation of Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE. Kanerva left for a leave on 1 April, and his term officially ended on 4 April 2008. Kanerva has a career in athletics and, at an early age, he was actively practising track. From 1981 to 1982 and from 1989 to 1990 he held the chair in the Finnish Athletics National Assembly, currently Kanerva serves as Honorary Chair of the Finnish Athletics Federation. Kanerva also served as Vice-President of the Finnish Olympic Committee from 1993 to 2008, additionally, Kanerva was a council member of the International Association of the Athletics Federations 2003-2011. He was a Member of the EAA Council from 1999 to 2003, others included, Sauli Niinistö, Jyrki Katainen, Jyri Häkämies, Marja Tiura, Sampsa Kataja, Jari Koskinen and Juha Hakola. In March 2008 it was revealed that Kanerva had sent 200 SMS messages within a month to Johanna Tukiainen, Kanerva had previously sent SMS messages to nude model Marika Fingerroos in 2005. According to Kanerva, Tukiainen had wanted to perform with her group at his birthday party. On March 30 Kanerva unexpectedly cancelled his plan to participate in Lennart Meri Conference in Tallinn, Estonia, and returned to Finland. The Hymy magazine published on April 1,2008 printed several of the messages, Kanerva was granted sick leave, and later that day it was released that his term as Foreign Minister would end on April 4,2008 due to loss of confidence. He was replaced by Alexander Stubb, Kanerva was accused of and investigated in a bribery case in 2010-2013. The Helsinki Court of Appeals found him not guilty in 2013, on June 9,2011 in the Helsinki District Court Ilkka Kanerva was accused of accepting bribes
5.
Harri Holkeri
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Harri Hermanni Holkeri KBE was a Finnish statesman representing the National Coalition Party of Finland. He was the Prime Minister of Finland 1987–1991, speaker of the UN General Assembly 2000–2001, harri Holkeri was member of the board of directors of the Bank of Finland from 1978–97, and candidate in the president elections of 1982 and 1988. He also served as a member of Parliament from 1970 to 1978, on 1 July 1991 he made the worlds first GSM call. The historic call used Nokia gear on GSMs original 900MHz band and he chaired the United Nations General Assembly, 2000–2001. He also played a role in securing the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland. Holkeri Cabinet Holkeri was awarded the highest Finnish honorary title of Counselor of State in 1998 by the President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari, holkeris efforts in Northern Ireland were rewarded with an honorary knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
6.
Paavo Lipponen
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Paavo Tapio Lipponen is a Finnish politician and former reporter. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, Lipponen was born in Turtola, son of Orvo Lipponen and his wife Hilkka Iisalo. Paavos maternal grandparents were Jaakko Antero Ingman/Iisalo and his wife Siiri Törnroos, paavo Lipponen spent his childhood and youth in Kuopio. Receiving his gymnasium diploma from the Lyceum of Kuopio in 1959, he studied philosophy. Soon after returning to Finland he moved to Helsinki where he attained a masters degree in international relations from the University of Helsinki in 1971. He was the editor of the student newspaper Ylioppilaslehti 1963–1965. Lipponen made various controversial statements that angered groups such as Estonian refugees, according to Alpo Rusis book Vasemmalta ohi, Lipponen began cooperation with the East German secret police Stasi in 1969. The book suggests that Lipponen is the code name Mungo XV/326/71 in the Rosenholz files, in a 2008 interview Lipponen said that he had been a target of East German manipulation. It is rumored that Lipponen is on the so-called Tiitinen list, Alpo Rusi has also suggested that Lipponen had an alias, code, and operation in the KGB. He held various posts in the Social Democratic Party organisation from 1967 to 1979, in a speech in 1978 Lipponen asserted that he had lost his belief in socialism. Lipponen first came into the limelight when he was secretary to Prime Minister Mauno Koivisto from 1979 to 1982. Frequently having to substitute for the busy Prime Minister, Lipponen was soon dubbed vara-Manu, Lipponen was a Member of the Parliament of Finland from 1983 to 1987 and also from 1991 until he retired in 2007. In 1993 SDP chairman Ulf Sundqvist was suspected and later convicted of a financial fraud. Lipponen was elected the new chairman in 1993, and he led the party to victory in the election of 1995. Lipponen formed a cabinet of five parties including both rightist and leftist parties, Lipponens economic policies were, however, dominated by the right-wing. The main task of the cabinet was to decrease the number of unemployed, tight fiscal policies allowed the participation of Finland in the European Monetary Union, which resulted in the introduction of the Euro in 1999. Foreign trade increased above the European average 1995-1999, laws for a new constitution were passed and it took effect on 1 March 2000. Lipponen headed the SDP campaign in 1999 which resulted in losses, the coalition formed in 1995 was renewed
7.
Veteli
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Veteli is a municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region, the municipality has a population of 3,287 and covers an area of 502.32 square kilometres of which 18.6 km2 is water. The population density is 6.54 inhabitants per square kilometre
8.
Finns
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Finns or Finnish people are a Finnic ethnic group native to Finland. Finns are traditionally divided into regional groups that span several countries adjacent to Finland. Also, some of these may be classified as ethnic groups. These include the Kvens and Forest Finns in Norway, the Tornedalians in Sweden, the most notable autochthonous group is the Finnish-speaking population of Sweden, who trace their origin to Second Swedish Crusade after which Finland came under Swedish rule. Finnish, the language spoken by most Finnic people, is related to other Finnic languages. The Finnic languages are a subgroup to the Uralic family of languages and these languages are markedly different from most other languages spoken in Europe, which belong to the Indo-European family of languages. Native Finns can also be divided according to dialect into subgroups sometimes called heimo, the Population Register Centre maintains information on the birthplace, citizenship and mother tongue of the people living in Finland, but does not specifically categorize any as Finns by ethnicity. The majority of living in the Republic of Finland consider Finnish to be their first language. According to Statistics Finland, of the total population of 5,300,484 at the end of 2007,91. 2% considered Finnish to be their native language. It is not known how many of the ethnic Finns living outside Finland speak Finnish as their first language, Finns have been traditionally divided into sub-groups along regional, dialectical or ethnographical lines. These subgroups include the people of Finland Proper, Satakunta, Tavastia, Savo and these sub-groups express regional self-identity with varying frequency and significance. Historically, there were three dialects, the South-Western, Tavastian, and Karelian, the Sweden Finns are either native to Sweden or have emigrated from Finland to Sweden. An estimated 450,000 first- or second-generation immigrants from Finland live in Sweden, the majority moved from Finland to Sweden following the Second World War, taking advantage of the rapidly expanding Swedish economy. This emigration peaked in 1970 and has been declining since, there are also native Finnish-speaking minorities in Sweden, e. g. the Tornedalingar and the Finns of Dalecarlia. The Finnish language has official status as one of five minority languages in Sweden, the term Finns is also used for other Finnic peoples, including Izhorians in Ingria, Karelians in Karelia and Veps in the former Veps National Volost, all in Russia. Among these groups, the Karelians is the most populous one, according to a 2002 census, it was found that Ingrians also indetify with Finnish ethnic identity, referring to themselves as Ingrian Finns. The Finnish term for Finns is suomalaiset and it is a matter of debate how best to designate the Finnish-speakers of Sweden, all of whom have migrated to Sweden from Finland. Historical references to Northern Europe are scarce, and the given to its peoples and geographic regions are obscure, therefore
9.
Centre Party (Finland)
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The Centre Party of Finland is a centrist, liberal, and agrarian political party in Finland. Founded in 1906 as the Agrarian League, the party represented rural communities, in the 1920s, the party emerged as the main rival to the Social Democratic Party, and the partys first Prime Minister, Kyösti Kallio, held the office four times between 1922 and 1937. After World War II, the party settled as one of the four political parties in Finland. Urho Kekkonen served as President of Finland from 1956 to 1982, the name Centre Party was adopted in 1965, and Centre of Finland in 1988. The Centre Party was the largest party in Parliament from 2003 to 2011, following the 2011 election, the party was reduced in parliamentary representation from the largest party to the fourth largest, but in 2015 it reclaimed its status as the largest party. As a Nordic agrarian party, the Centre Partys political influence is greatest in small and rural municipalities, decentralisation is the policy that is most characteristic of the Centre Party. The Centre has been the party in Finland a number of times since Finnish independence. 12 of the Prime Ministers of Finland, three of the Presidents and a former European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs have been from the party, the Finnish Centre Party is the mother organisation of Finnish Centre Youth, Finnish Centre Students, and Finnish Centre Women. It is one of the four largest political parties in the country, along with the National Coalition Party, SDP and it has 49 seats in the Finnish Parliament. The Centre Party chairman is Juha Sipilä, who was elected in June 2012 to follow Mari Kiviniemi, the party was founded in 1906 as a movement of citizens in the Finnish countryside. Before Finnish independence, political power in Finland was centralised in the capital, the centralisation gave space for a new political movement. In 1906 two agrarian movements were founded and they merged in 1908 to become one political party known as the Agrarian League or Maalaisliitto. An older, related movement was the movement, which had overlapping membership. Santeri Alkio was the most important ideological father of the party, at the dawn of Finnish independence conservative social forces made an attempt to establish the Kingdom of Finland. The Agrarian League opposed monarchism fiercely even though monarchists claimed that a new king from the German Empire, at this time, anti-anarchist peasants threatened the existence of the party. Nevertheless, the news about the problems of the German Empire from German liberals encouraged the fight of Agrarian League in the Parliament, the Agrarian League managed to maintain the republican voices in the Parliament until the fall of the German Empire, which ruined the dreams of the monarchists. The relentless opposition to the monarchy was rewarded in the parliamentary election 1919, after the 1919 election, the centrist and progressive forces, including the Agrarian League, were constant members in Finnish governments. Their moderate attitude in restless post-war Finland secured a growth in following elections
10.
Finland
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Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. A peninsula with the Gulf of Finland to the south and the Gulf of Bothnia to the west, the country has borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north. Estonia is south of the country across the Gulf of Finland, Finland is a Nordic country situated in the geographical region of Fennoscandia, which also includes Scandinavia. Finlands population is 5.5 million, and the majority of the population is concentrated in the southern region,88. 7% of the population is Finnish people who speak Finnish, a Uralic language unrelated to the Scandinavian languages, the second major group are the Finland-Swedes. In terms of area, it is the eighth largest country in Europe, Finland is a parliamentary republic with a central government based in the capital Helsinki, local governments in 311 municipalities, and an autonomous region, the Åland Islands. Over 1.4 million people live in the Greater Helsinki metropolitan area, from the late 12th century, Finland was an integral part of Sweden, a legacy reflected in the prevalence of the Swedish language and its official status. In the spirit of the notion of Adolf Ivar Arwidsson, we are not Swedes, we do not want to become Russians, let us therefore be Finns, nevertheless, in 1809, Finland was incorporated into the Russian Empire as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland. In 1906, Finland became the nation in the world to give the right to vote to all adult citizens. Following the 1917 Russian Revolution, Finland declared itself independent, in 1918, the fledgling state was divided by civil war, with the Bolshevik-leaning Reds supported by the equally new Soviet Russia, fighting the Whites, supported by the German Empire. After a brief attempt to establish a kingdom, the became a republic. During World War II, the Soviet Union sought repeatedly to occupy Finland, with Finland losing parts of Karelia, Salla and Kuusamo, Petsamo and some islands, Finland joined the United Nations in 1955 and established an official policy of neutrality. The Finno-Soviet Treaty of 1948 gave the Soviet Union some leverage in Finnish domestic politics during the Cold War era, Finland was a relative latecomer to industrialization, remaining a largely agrarian country until the 1950s. It rapidly developed an advanced economy while building an extensive Nordic-style welfare state, resulting in widespread prosperity, however, Finnish GDP growth has been negative in 2012–2014, with a preceding nadir of −8% in 2009. Finland is a top performer in numerous metrics of national performance, including education, economic competitiveness, civil liberties, quality of life, a large majority of Finns are members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, though freedom of religion is guaranteed under the Finnish Constitution. The first known appearance of the name Finland is thought to be on three rune-stones. Two were found in the Swedish province of Uppland and have the inscription finlonti, the third was found in Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. It has the inscription finlandi and dates from the 13th century, the name can be assumed to be related to the tribe name Finns, which is mentioned first known time AD98. The name Suomi has uncertain origins, but a candidate for a source is the Proto-Baltic word *źemē, in addition to the close relatives of Finnish, this name is also used in the Baltic languages Latvian and Lithuanian
11.
Finnish Centre Youth
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Finnish Centre Youth Finnish, Keskustanuoret is the biggest political youth organisation in Finland with 17000 members. It is the wing of the Centre Party. It is formed by 19 regional organisations and approximately 400 local associations, the organisation was formerly known as Nuoren Keskustan Liitto and until 1964 Maaseudun Nuorten Liitto. Finnish Centre Youth is a member of the European Liberal Youth, International Federation of Liberal Youth, the organisation was founded after World War II on 30 June 1945 in Salo as a union of 14 regional youth organisations of the Agrarian League. The Salo meeting elected Johannes Virolainen as the first president of the organisation, two decades later, Virolainen became the Prime Minister of Finland. The post-war era was an active time in Finland. The new centrist youth organisation rapidly gained new members, reaching 50000 members in 1954 and 70000 members in 1962, since then, the number of members has been gradually declining. Tens of Finnish Ministers and hundreds of members of Finnish Parliament have background in Finnish Centre Youth
12.
University of Helsinki
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The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available, around 36,500 students are currently enrolled in the degree programs of the university spread across 11 faculties and 11 research institutes. As of August 1,2005, the University complies with the structure of the Europe-wide Bologna Process and offers Bachelor, Master, Licenciate. Admission to degree programmes is determined by entrance examinations, in the case of bachelors degrees. It has been ranked a top 100 university in the according to the 2016 ARWU, QS. The university is bilingual, with teaching officially provided both in Finnish and Swedish, generally speaking, however, the university is monolingual Finnish, as courses taught in Swedish are very few and far apart. Teaching in English is extensive throughout the university at Master, Licentiate, remaining true to its traditionally strong Humboldtian ethos, the University of Helsinki places heavy emphasis on high-quality teaching and research of a top international standard. It is a member of various prominent international university networks, such as Europaeum, UNICA, the Utrecht Network, the first predecessor of the university, The Cathedral School of Åbo, was presumably founded in 1276 for education of boys to become servants of the Church. It was the university founded in the Swedish Empire, following Uppsala University. The second period of the Universitys history covers the period when Finland was a Grand Duchy of the Russian Empire, as Finland became part of the Russian Empire in 1809, Emperor Alexander I expanded the University and allocated substantial funds to it. In the capital the primary task of the University was to educate the Grand Duchy’s civil servants, the University became a community subscribing to the new Humboldtian ideals of science and culture, studying humanity and its living environment by means of scientific methods. The Alexander University was a centre of life that promoted the birth of an independent Finnish State. The great men of 19th century Finland, Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Elias Lönnrot, in the 19th century university research changed from being collection-centred to being experimental, empirical, and analytical. The more scientific approach of the university led to specialisation and created new disciplines, as the scientific disciplines developed, Finland received ever more scholarly knowledge and highly educated people, some of whom entered rapidly evolving industry or the government. The third period of the universitys history began with the creation of the independent Republic of Finland in 1917, once Finland gained her independence in 1917 the University was given a crucial role in building the nation state and, after World War II, the welfare state. Members of the community promoted the international relations of the new state. Furthermore, they were involved in national politics and the struggle for equality. In the 20th century, scholarly research at the University of Helsinki reached the level of the European elite in many disciplines. I, virtanen and the Nobel Prize in Medicine shared by Professor Ragnar Granit
13.
Skolkovo Innovation Center
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The Skolkovo Innovation Center is a high technology business area that is being built at Skolkovo near Moscow, Russia. As corporations and individuals become residents of the city, with proposed projects, Skolkovo was first announced on 12 November 2009 by then Russian president Dmitry Medvedev. The complex is headed by Viktor Vekselberg and co-chaired by former Intel CEO Craig Barrett, in March 2010 Vekselberg announced the necessity of developing a special legal order in Skolkovo and emphasized the need to offer a tax holiday lasting 5–7 years. In April 2010 Russian President Dmitry Medvedev charged the government with working out specific legal, administrative, tax, in May 2010 Dmitry Medvedev introduced two bills regulating working conditions in Skolkovo. The bills were adopted by the State Duma in September of that year and, on 28 September 2010, in August 2010 Dmitry Medvedev introduced a bill easing migratory policies in regards to Skolkovo. On 20 August 2010 a new government decree regulating visas for participants of the Skolkovo project was published. According to this decree, specialized and highly skilled foreign nationals who arrive in Russia with the purpose of securing employment at Skolkovo will be granted a visa for a term of up to 30 days. In the event of successful job placement they can obtain a work visa for a term of 3 years. A new highway was opened connecting Skolkovo to the MKAD in June 2010, railway transport will be available via Belorussky Rail Terminal and Kiyevsky Rail Terminal. A link to Vnukovo International Airport is also planned, the innovation center will be financed primarily from the Russian federal budget. The centers 2010 budget was 3.9 Billion RUB, an additional 22 Billion RUB is planned for 2012 and 17.3 Billion RUB in 2013. Skolkovo includes five clusters specializing in different areas and these include IT, Energy, Nuclear Technologies, Biomedicine and Space Technologies. The IT cluster is tasked with creating a model for successful commercialization of IT technologies in Russia. Over 450 companies have signed up for the IT cluster, today over 80 companies are on board for the energy efficiency cluster. The development of technologies is a means to both become an innovation leader and maintain the competitive edge of Russias defence industry. At the same time, the Nuclear Technologies cluster aims to encourage the competitiveness of nuclear power markets and develop breakthrough technologies, the strategic goal of this cluster is to create an ecosystem for biomedical innovation. In order to achieve this goal, the best practices of leading biotechnology, more than 215 companies have signed on for the Biomedical Technologies cluster. The Space Technology and Telecommunications cluster is intended to strengthen Russias position in the respective industries, the scope of activity is wide, from space tourism to satellite navigation systems
14.
Sciences Po
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Sciences Po, or Paris Institute of Political Studies is a selective university located in Paris, France, and is widely considered to be one of the most prestigious in France. Sciences Po is a university focused on the social sciences and its main campus encircles Boulevard Saint Germain in the 7th arrondissement. Undergraduate students can choose to study in one of its six campuses in Reims, Dijon, Le Havre, Nancy, Poitiers or Menton, each focusing on a different cultural. The institution is a member of several academic consortia, Sciences Po was created in 1872 to improve the training of public servants and politicians in the aftermath of the French defeat in the Franco-Prussian war of 1871. Many notable public figures are among its alumni, including most French presidents and it has also been strongly criticized for creating an oligarchy in French society and being at the centre of several scandals. Following defeat in the 1870 war, the demise of Napoleon III, and the Paris Commune, politically and economically, people feared Frances international stature was waning due to inadequate teaching of its political and diplomatic corps. ELSP was meant to serve as breeding ground where nearly all the major, non-technical state commissioners were trained. ”New disciplines such as International Relations, International Law, Political Economy. In August 1894, the British Association for the Advancement of Science spoke out for the need to advance the study of politics along the lines of ELSP. Sidney and Beatrice Webb used the purpose and curriculum of Sciences Po as part of their inspiration for creating the London School of Economics in 1895. As per ordinance 45-2284 issued on 9 October 1945, two entities were created from ELSP, Fondation nationale des sciences politiques or FNSP, and Institut détudes politiques de Paris or IEP Paris. Both entities were tasked by the French government to ensure “the progress, the epithet Sciences Po was applied to both entities, which inherited the reputation previously vested in ELSP. Frances Legislature entrusted FNSP with managing IEP Paris, its library, and budget, and they are not to be confounded with Sciences Pos satellite campuses. FNSP further strengthened its role as a publication center with significant donations from the Rockefeller Foundation. Sciences Po underwent various reforms under the directorship of Richard Descoings, in these years, Sciences Po introduced a compulsory year abroad component to its undergraduate degree, and began to offer a multilingual curriculum in French, English, and other languages. It was during this period that Sciences Po added its regional campuses, Sciences Po also implemented reforms in its admissions process. Previously, Sciences Po recruited its students exclusively on the basis of a competitive examination and this system was seen to favor students from prestigious preparatory high schools or those who could afford year-long preparatory courses. In March 2001, the governing council widened its admissions policy. Sciences Po is located in Paris, in the 6th and 7th districts,27 rue Saint-Guillaume houses the office since 1879
15.
Parliament of Finland
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The Eduskunta is the parliament of Finland. The unicameral parliament has 200 members and normally meets in the Parliament House in Helsinki, however, during the 2015–2017 renovation of the Parliament House, the parliament temporary meets in the nearby Sibelius Academy. The latest election to the parliament took place on April 19,2015, under the Constitution of Finland, the 200-member unicameral parliament exercises supreme decision-making authority in Finland. Sovereignty belongs to the people and that power is vested in the parliament and it passes legislation, decides on the state budget, approves international treaties, and supervises the activities of the government. It may alter the constitution, bring about the resignation of the Council of State, legislation may be initiated by the Council of State, or one of the members of the Eduskunta. To make changes to the Constitution, amendments must be approved twice by the Eduskunta, the Eduskuntas 200 representatives are elected directly by secret ballot on the basis of proportional representation. The electoral period is four years, Elections previously took two days but as early voting became popular they are now conducted on one day, since 2011 the third Sunday in April. Every citizen who is at least 18 years of age by the date is entitled to vote in general elections. All registered parties are entitled to nominate candidates, individual citizens, in parliamentary elections, Finland is divided into 13 electoral districts. The number of representatives returned by each district depends on the population, Åland is an exception in that it always elects one representative. The provincial state offices appoint a board in each electoral district to prepare lists of candidates. The Ministry of Justice is ultimately responsible for elections, prior to the new constitution the President had the power to do this independently. The President has called an early election eight times in Finnish history, however, there is no hard and fast election threshold to get a seat in Parliament. In large part due to this, it is impossible for one party to win an outright majority. Since the first election in 1907, only one party has won a majority—in the election of 1916. Since Finland gained independence in 1917, no party has won the 101 seats necessary for a majority and it is also very difficult for the socialist and non-socialist blocs to form a government on their own. Most Finnish governments in recent history have been coalitions between three or more parties, and many of them have been coalitions between socialist and non-socialist parties. The seats for each district are assigned according to the dHondt method
16.
National Coalition Party
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The National Coalition Party is a liberal and conservative political party in Finland. Founded in 1918, the National Coalition Party is one of the four largest parties in Finland, along with the Social Democratic Party, the Finns Party and the Centre Party. The party bases its politics on freedom and responsibility, equality, Western democracy and economic system, humane principles. The party is strongly pro-European and is a member of the European Peoples Party and its vote share has been around 20% in parliamentary elections in the 1990s and 2000s. It won 44 out of 200 seats in the elections of 2011. On the municipal level, it became the most popular party in 2008 and has retained that position, in the 2015 election the NCP lost its status as the countrys largest party, as they finished second in votes and third in seats. Regardless, the party joined the government coalition. Its voters are predominantly urban, while in rural regions its performance is relatively weak, the current leader is Petteri Orpo, elected on 11 June 2016. According to its platform the National Coalition Party wants to build a society where a person’s own choices, hopes, the party defends individual freedom, and promotes people’s opportunities to make choices, but without ignoring everyone’s responsibility for their own life, others, and the environment. Our ideology combines freedom with responsibility, democracy, and equality, the partys basic values are education, tolerance, rewarding and caring. Individuals freedom to think and act independently and minorities rights are core matters to the party, according to the history section of the official website the platform has been shaped by ideas of conservatism, liberalism and social reform, which have all contributed to the current ideology. Alexander Stubb has described the policies as unambiguously liberal. In 2010 the party voted in favour of supporting same-sex marriage. In international affairs, the party and its voter base strongly believe in the benefits of the European Union, the party wants to build an economically and politically stronger European Union, we envisage an EU that is a more effective and a more prominent actor in world politics. The party advocates a membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the party is one of parties most supportive of work-based immigration, but many of its supporters want less immigration. The party has supported initiatives of allowing shops and restaurants to serve customers on Sundays. Polls show that as of 2008, the National Coalition Party is the party that has been viewed most positively by Finns, out of the major parties, the National Coalition Party has the highest proportion of women and is the most favored party among young generations. The party has the strongest support in the cities of Southern Finland and is popular among entrepreneurs, people can join various member organizations in the party
17.
Christian Democrats (Finland)
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The Christian Democrats is a Christian democratic political party in Finland. The Christian Democrats have five seats in the Finnish Parliament, the party was represented in the Finnish government by Minister of Interior Päivi Räsänen from June 22,2011 until May 29,2015. The party was founded in 1958, chiefly by the Christian faction of the National Coalition Party, the party describes itself as following the tenets of Christian Democracy. Membership is open to everyone who agrees with these values and aims, the party also claims to be committed to environmental protection. The party has lost many of its members to bigger centre-right parties after 1990s, mainly to the National Coalition, KD MP Lyly Rajala and MEP Eija-Riitta Korhola defected to the National Coalition in 2003, and the former party secretary Annika Kokko moved to the National Coalition in 2007. English-speaking members of the party founded their own chapter in Helsinki in 2004 and its monthly meetings attract immigrants to participate in societal matters and the issues that are particularly important to them. In 2005, a Russian-speaking chapter was founded in Helsinki. The party is a member of the European Peoples Party KD-lehti is the partys weekly newspaper. Steven Van Hecke, Emmanuel Gerard, eds, life at the Northern Margin, Christian Democracy in Scandinavia. Christian Democratic Parties in Europe Since the End of the Cold War
18.
Swedish People's Party of Finland
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The Swedish Peoples Party of Finland is a liberal-centrist political party in Finland aiming to represent the interests of the minority Swedish-speaking population of Finland. An ethnic catch-all party, partys main issue has been since its inception the Swedish-speaking Finns right to their own language. The party was in governmental position 1979–2015 with one or two seats in the government and collaborated with the centre-right as well as the centre-left in the Parliament of Finland, after the 2015 election SFP was left out of the government formed by the three biggest parties. The party is a member of Liberal International and the Alliance of Liberals, the Swedish Party, a parliamentary elite party based on members in the Diet of Finland, is the historical predecessor of the Swedish Peoples Party of Finland. It was a part of the Svecoman movement and its policy was opposition of the Fennoman movement. Unlike Fennomans who were largely liberal on matters than the language question. Axel Lille and Axel Olof Freudenthal are often considered as some of the founding fathers of the movement. Most members of the Liberal Party joined the Swedish Party in the 1880s, the Swedish Peoples Party of Finland was founded in the 1906 party congress of the Swedish Party, making it one of the oldest parties in Finland. The first leader of Swedish Peoples Party was Axel Lille, the current leader of the party is Anna-Maja Henriksson. In the Parliament of Finland the representative for Åland is usually included in SFPs parliamentary group, regardless of his/her party affiliation. This is because the parties in Åland have no counterparts in Mainland Finland. The party receives its main support from the Swedish speaking minority. In municipal elections, it holds large majorities in municipalities with a Swedish-speaking majority, despite its position as one of the minor political parties in the Finnish parliament it has frequently been one of the partners forming the governing coalition cabinets. Since 1956, the year when Urho Kekkonen was elected President and it has been part of all coalitions with the significant exception of Paasios first government, which included only socialists and the Centre Party. However, although Vanhanens first government made Swedish a voluntary subject in the secondary schools matriculation exam. In contrast, the Greens left the government after a new nuclear power plant was decided in 2002. Recently the SFP has emphasized the liberal part of its programme, in 2010, the party added the word Suomen to its official Finnish name. The Swedish language is one of the two languages of Finland
19.
European Union
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The European Union is a political and economic union of 28 member states that are located primarily in Europe. It has an area of 4,475,757 km2, the EU has developed an internal single market through a standardised system of laws that apply in all member states. Within the Schengen Area, passport controls have been abolished, a monetary union was established in 1999 and came into full force in 2002, and is composed of 19 EU member states which use the euro currency. The EU operates through a system of supranational and intergovernmental decision-making. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community, the community and its successors have grown in size by the accession of new member states and in power by the addition of policy areas to its remit. While no member state has left the EU or its antecedent organisations, the Maastricht Treaty established the European Union in 1993 and introduced European citizenship. The latest major amendment to the basis of the EU. The EU as a whole is the largest economy in the world, additionally,27 out of 28 EU countries have a very high Human Development Index, according to the United Nations Development Programme. In 2012, the EU was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, through the Common Foreign and Security Policy, the EU has developed a role in external relations and defence. The union maintains permanent diplomatic missions throughout the world and represents itself at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the G7, because of its global influence, the European Union has been described as an emerging superpower. After World War II, European integration was seen as an antidote to the nationalism which had devastated the continent. 1952 saw the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community, the supporters of the Community included Alcide De Gasperi, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and Paul-Henri Spaak. These men and others are credited as the Founding fathers of the European Union. In 1957, Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and West Germany signed the Treaty of Rome and they also signed another pact creating the European Atomic Energy Community for co-operation in developing nuclear energy. Both treaties came into force in 1958, the EEC and Euratom were created separately from the ECSC, although they shared the same courts and the Common Assembly. The EEC was headed by Walter Hallstein and Euratom was headed by Louis Armand, Euratom was to integrate sectors in nuclear energy while the EEC would develop a customs union among members. During the 1960s, tensions began to show, with France seeking to limit supranational power, Jean Rey presided over the first merged Commission. In 1973, the Communities enlarged to include Denmark, Ireland, Norway had negotiated to join at the same time, but Norwegian voters rejected membership in a referendum
20.
Kannus
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Kannus is a town and municipality and city of Finland. It is situated in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Ostrobothnia region, the municipality has a population of 5,579 and covers an area of 468.23 square kilometres, of which 2.41 km2 is water. The population density is 11.91 inhabitants per square kilometre, neighbour municipalities are Kalajoki, Kokkola, Sievi and Toholampi. The landscape is flat, there are swamps and also river valleys. Hietajärvi lake and couple of ponds are on the side of municipality. Media related to Kannus at Wikimedia Commons Town of Kannus – official website
21.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
22.
President of the United States
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The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is considered to be one of the worlds most powerful political figures, the role includes being the commander-in-chief of the worlds most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The office of President holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad, Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The president is empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves. The president is responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is a member. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States, since the office of President was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. However, nine vice presidents have assumed the presidency without having elected to the office. The Twenty-second Amendment prohibits anyone from being elected president for a third term, in all,44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four-year terms. On January 20,2017, Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th, in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives to Congress, only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1,1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies, with peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. Prospects for the convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washingtons attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. It was through the negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U. S. The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto, the Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options, Sign the legislation, the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections, in this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation
23.
John F. Kennedy
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Kennedy was a member of the Democratic Party, and his New Frontier domestic program was largely enacted as a memorial to him after his death. Kennedy also established the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1963, Kennedys time in office was marked by high tensions with Communist states. He increased the number of American military advisers in South Vietnam by a factor of 18 over President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in Cuba, a failed attempt was made at the Bay of Pigs to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro in April 1961. He subsequently rejected plans by the Joint Chiefs of Staff to orchestrate false-flag attacks on American soil in order to gain approval for a war against Cuba. After military service in the United States Naval Reserve in World War II and he was elected subsequently to the U. S. Senate and served as the junior Senator from Massachusetts from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President, and Republican presidential candidate, Richard Nixon in the 1960 U. S, at age 43, he became the youngest elected president and the second-youngest president. Kennedy was also the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president, to date, Kennedy has been the only Roman Catholic president and the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22,1963, Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested that afternoon and determined to have fired the shots that hit the President from a sixth floor window of the Texas School Book Depository. Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby fatally shot Oswald two days later in a jail corridor, then-Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded Kennedy after he died in the hospital. The FBI and the Warren Commission officially concluded that Oswald was the lone assassin, the majority of Americans alive at the time of the assassination, and continuing through 2013, believed that there was a conspiracy and that Oswald was not the only shooter. Since the 1960s, information concerning Kennedys private life has come to light, including his health problems, Kennedy continues to rank highly in historians polls of U. S. presidents and with the general public. His average approval rating of 70% is the highest of any president in Gallups history of systematically measuring job approval and his grandfathers P. J. Kennedy and Boston Mayor John F. Fitzgerald were both Massachusetts politicians. All four of his grandparents were the children of Irish immigrants, Kennedy had an elder brother, Joseph Jr. and seven younger siblings, Rosemary, Kathleen, Eunice, Patricia, Robert, Jean, and Ted. Kennedy lived in Brookline for ten years and attended the Edward Devotion School, the Noble and Greenough Lower School, and the Dexter School through 4th grade. In 1927, the Kennedy family moved to a stately twenty-room, Georgian-style mansion at 5040 Independence Avenue in the Hudson Hill neighborhood of Riverdale, Bronx and he attended the lower campus of Riverdale Country School, a private school for boys, from 5th to 7th grade. Two years later, the moved to 294 Pondfield Road in the New York City suburb of Bronxville, New York. The Kennedy family spent summers at their home in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in September 1930, Kennedy—then 13 years old—attended the Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut. In late April 1931, he required an appendectomy, after which he withdrew from Canterbury, in September 1931, Kennedy attended Choate, a boarding school in Wallingford, Connecticut, for 9th through 12th grade
24.
President of Finland
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The President of the Republic of Finland is the nations head of state. Under the Finnish constitution, executive power is vested in the president, the president is elected directly by the people of Finland for a term of six years. Since 1991, no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms, the president must be a native-born Finnish citizen. The office was established by the Constitution Act of 1919, the current office-holder is Sauli Niinistö. Officially the head of state is known as the President of the Republic of Finland or, more often and this is in contrast to the former presidents, who retain the title President. In other contexts, the term for president is puheenjohtaja – except for appeals courts. Candidates for president can be nominated by registered parties which have received at least one seat in the parliamentary election. A candidate may also be nominated by 20,000 enfranchised citizens, between 1919 and 1988, the president was elected indirectly by an electoral college made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. Since 1994, the president has been elected by a popular vote. If only one candidate is nominated, he or she becomes president without an election, otherwise, the first round of balloting takes place on the third Sunday of January in the election year. If one of the candidates receives more than half of the votes cast, if no candidate wins a majority in the first stage, the top two candidates rerun in the second stage three weeks later. The candidate who receives more votes is elected. In the event of a tie, the election is resolved by lot, the Council of State confirms the outcome of the election and, if necessary, conducts the drawing of lots. The president assumes office on the first day of the following the election. There have been several presidential elections. The first president, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg, was chosen by the Finnish parliament due to the rule of the constitution. In 1940 and 1943, the 1937 electoral college chose the president, as it was felt that an election could not be arranged due to the martial law. In 1944 special legislation directly stipulated that Marshal Mannerheim be elected president for six years after Risto Ryti had resigned mid-term, in 1946, special legislation empowered the Parliament to choose a successor for the remainder of Mannerheims term, the latter having resigned
25.
Tarja Halonen
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Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who was the 11th President of Finland, serving from 2000 to 2012. She was the first female head of state in Finland and while she was in office, in 2003 and 2010–11, Halonen held two appointments as a minister and served as a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 until her election to the presidency. In addition to her career, Halonen had a long and extensive career in trade unions. Her work for advancing human rights has been notable and she was, among other things, an early proponent of gay rights, chairing the main Finnish gay rights organization Seta in 1980–1981. Halonen rose from humble beginnings, having lived through the wartime as a daughter of a mother in the Kallio working-class neighborhood in Helsinki. She graduated from the University of Helsinki, where she studied law from 1963 to 1968 and she was active in student politics and served as the Social Affairs Secretary and Organization Secretary of the National Union of Students from 1969 to 1970. In 1971 she joined the Social Democratic Party and worked as a lawyer in the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions until she was elected to parliament in 1979, Halonen served in the parliament of Finland for six terms, from 1979 to 2000, representing the constituency of Helsinki. She also had a career in the city council of Helsinki. She started her campaign for the presidency at the beginning of 1999 after President Martti Ahtisaari announced that he would not stand for a term in the office. During her presidency, she was popular among Finns, her approval ratings rose. Ineligible to run in the 2012 presidential elections because of term limits, Halonen is widely known for her interest in human rights issues. In 1980–81 Halonen served as the chairman of Seta, the main LGBT rights organization in Finland, during her presidency, she has participated actively in discussion of womens rights and problems of globalization. In 2009, Forbes named her among the 100 Most Powerful Women in the world, Tarja Halonen was born on 24 December 1943 in the district of Kallio which is a traditional working-class area in central Helsinki. Her mother Lyyli Elina Loimola was a set-dresser and her father Vieno Olavi Halonen worked as a welder, Halonens parents married each other at the beginning of World War II and Tarja was born a few years later. Vieno Halonen was at the frontline and Lyyli Halonen was working in a factory when their daughter was born. After the war the couple decided to get a divorce, and in 1950 Lyyli Halonen married her new husband Thure Forss, both Halonens mother and her stepfather influenced her world view extensively. Halonen later said that her mother was a survivor, always an extremely active and resilient person who valued good. When she entered politics, Halonen stated that these are also the qualities and attributes she respects in people, in 1950 she began her studies in Kallio Elementary school from where she later moved to Kallio Gymnasium and finally finished her matriculation examination in 1962
26.
Harvard University
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Although never formally affiliated with any denomination, the early College primarily trained Congregationalist and Unitarian clergy. Its curriculum and student body were gradually secularized during the 18th century, james Bryant Conant led the university through the Great Depression and World War II and began to reform the curriculum and liberalize admissions after the war. The undergraduate college became coeducational after its 1977 merger with Radcliffe College, Harvards $34.5 billion financial endowment is the largest of any academic institution. Harvard is a large, highly residential research university, the nominal cost of attendance is high, but the Universitys large endowment allows it to offer generous financial aid packages. Harvards alumni include eight U. S. presidents, several heads of state,62 living billionaires,359 Rhodes Scholars. To date, some 130 Nobel laureates,18 Fields Medalists, Harvard was formed in 1636 by vote of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. In 1638, it obtained British North Americas first known printing press, in 1639 it was named Harvard College after deceased clergyman John Harvard an alumnus of the University of Cambridge who had left the school £779 and his scholars library of some 400 volumes. The charter creating the Harvard Corporation was granted in 1650 and it offered a classic curriculum on the English university model—many leaders in the colony had attended the University of Cambridge—but conformed to the tenets of Puritanism. It was never affiliated with any denomination, but many of its earliest graduates went on to become clergymen in Congregational. The leading Boston divine Increase Mather served as president from 1685 to 1701, in 1708, John Leverett became the first president who was not also a clergyman, which marked a turning of the college toward intellectual independence from Puritanism. When the Hollis Professor of Divinity David Tappan died in 1803 and the president of Harvard Joseph Willard died a year later, in 1804, in 1846, the natural history lectures of Louis Agassiz were acclaimed both in New York and on the campus at Harvard College. Agassizs approach was distinctly idealist and posited Americans participation in the Divine Nature, agassizs perspective on science combined observation with intuition and the assumption that a person can grasp the divine plan in all phenomena. When it came to explaining life-forms, Agassiz resorted to matters of shape based on an archetype for his evidence. Charles W. Eliot, president 1869–1909, eliminated the position of Christianity from the curriculum while opening it to student self-direction. While Eliot was the most crucial figure in the secularization of American higher education, he was motivated not by a desire to secularize education, during the 20th century, Harvards international reputation grew as a burgeoning endowment and prominent professors expanded the universitys scope. Rapid enrollment growth continued as new schools were begun and the undergraduate College expanded. Radcliffe College, established in 1879 as sister school of Harvard College, Harvard became a founding member of the Association of American Universities in 1900. In the early 20th century, the student body was predominately old-stock, high-status Protestants, especially Episcopalians, Congregationalists, by the 1970s it was much more diversified
27.
SITRA
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SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund, was founded in 1967 as a part of the Bank of Finland. Currently it is an independent public foundation which operates directly under the supervision of the Finnish Parliament, sITRAs duties are stated in legislation. Its operations are funded with endowment capital and returns from capital investments, through its activities, SITRA aims to promote the economic prosperity and the future success of Finland. SITRAs aim is to be a partner in building a knowledgeable. SITRA has an endowment valued at €651 million, the funding comes only from the profits from the endowment, SITRA does not spend the endowment or receive tax-generated government funding
28.
Nokia
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Nokia Corporation, stylised as NOKIA, is a Finnish multinational communications and information technology company, founded in 1865. Nokia is headquartered in Espoo, Uusimaa, in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area, in 2014, Nokia employed 61,656 people across 120 countries, did business in more than 150 countries and reported annual revenues of around €12.73 billion. Nokia is a limited company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange. It is the worlds 274th-largest company measured by 2013 revenues according to the Fortune Global 500 and is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index, the company has had various industries in its 151-year history. It was founded as a mill, and now focuses on large-scale telecommunications infrastructures. Nokias dominance also extended into the industry through its Symbian platform. Nokia eventually entered into a pact with Microsoft in 2011 to exclusively use Microsofts Windows Phone platform on future smartphones and its mobile phone business was eventually bought by Microsoft in an overall deal totaling $7.17 billion. Stephen Elop, Nokias former CEO, and several other joined the new Microsoft Mobile subsidiary of Microsoft as part of the deal. Nokia has a history, dating back to 1865 when Fredrik Idestam. A second pulp mill was created in 1868 near the town of Nokia, in 1871, Idestam together with friend Leo Mechelin formed a shared company and called it Nokia, after the town of the second pulp mill. For the next 90 years, Nokia on its own would be a forest and power industry company, in 1922, Nokia was jointly-owned with a trio partnership with Finnish Cable Works and Finnish Rubber Works. Nokia Corporation now boasted many industries including rubber, forestry, cable, electricity, in the 1970s, the newly formed conglomerate started entering the networking and radio industry. Nokia also started making military equipment for Finlands defence forces, such as the Sanomalaite M/90 communicator in 1983, in 1979, Nokia went into a joint venture with television maker Salora, to create Mobira, which would lay out the foundation of Nokias future mobile phone division. In 1981, Mobira launched the Nordic Mobile Telephone service, the worlds first international cellular network, then in 1982, Mobira launched the Mobira Senator car phone, which can be considered as Nokias first mobile phone. At that time, though, Nokia had no interest at all in mobile phones and it is only due to the Salo, Finland-based Salora-Mobira that the idea was pushed through. In 1987, Finnish Cable Works discontinued production of cables at its Helsinki factory, nokian Tyres, a tyre producer that was originally formed as a division of Finnish Rubber Works in 1932, split away from Nokia Corporation in 1988. Two years later in 1990, Finnish Rubber Works followed suit and this allowed Nokia Corporation to solely focus on communications. Jorma Ollila became CEO in 1992, Nokias first fully portable mobile phone was the Mobira Cityman 900 in 1987
29.
Bilderberg Group
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The first conference was held at the Hotel de Bilderberg in Oosterbeek, Netherlands, from 29 to 31 May 1954. Bernhard in turn contacted Walter Bedell Smith, then head of the CIA, the guest list was to be drawn up by inviting two attendees from each nation, one of each to represent conservative and liberal points of view. Fifty delegates from 11 countries in Western Europe attended the first conference, the success of the meeting led the organizers to arrange an annual conference. A permanent steering committee was established with Retinger appointed as permanent secretary, conferences were held in France, Germany, and Denmark over the following three years. In 1957 the first U. S. conference was held on St. Simons Island, Georgia, the foundation also supplied funding for the 1959 and 1963 conferences. The groups original goal of promoting Atlanticism, of strengthening U. S, in 2001, Denis Healey, a Bilderberg group founder and a steering committee member for 30 years, said, To say we were striving for a one-world government is exaggerated, but not wholly unfair. Those of us in Bilderberg felt we couldnt go on forever fighting one another for nothing and killing people, so we felt that a single community throughout the world would be a good thing. Meetings are organized by a committee with two members from each of approximately 18 nations. Official posts include a chairman and an Honorary Secretary General, the groups rules do not contain a membership category but former participants receive the annual conference reports. The only category that exists is member of the steering committee, besides the committee, there is a separate advisory group with overlapping membership. Dutch economist Ernst van der Beugel became permanent secretary in 1960, prince Bernhard continued to serve as the meetings chairman until 1976, the year of his involvement in the Lockheed affair. According to James A. Bill, the committee usually met twice a year to plan programs. In 2002, author Jon Ronson wrote that the group has a central office in Holland which each year decides what country will host the forthcoming meeting. The host country then has to book a hotel for four days, plus arrange catering, transport. To fund this, the host solicits donations from corporations such as Barclays, Fiat Automobiles, GlaxoSmithKline, Heinz, Nokia. About two thirds of the come from Europe and the rest from North America, one third from politics and government. Partly because of its methods to ensure strict privacy, the Bilderberg Group has been criticised for its lack of transparency. In 2005, Davignon discussed accusations of the striving for a one-world government with the BBC, It is unavoidable
30.
Kalevi Sorsa
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Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland three times, 1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987. At the time of his death he held the record for most days of incumbency as prime minister. He was also a leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland. Kalevi Sorsa went to school in Jyväskylä and Lappeenranta, Sorsas involvement with SDP politics started in Lappeenranta in 1948. In 1969, he was brought in relative obscurity by Rafael Paasio to assume the influential post of party secretary. Prior to his career, Sorsa worked in Paris for UNESCO from 1959 to 1965. In the late 1960s he also served as an official in the Ministry of Education, in 1992 Kalevi Sorsa announced that he would stand in the coming 1994 presidential elections. When news of this information finally broke in the Finnish press, Sorsa issued a public apology, Martti Ahtisaari took his place as the candidate of the Social Democratic Party. Sorsa was a political figure during the presidencies of Kekkonen. He served as the chairman of the Social Democratic Party from 1975 to 1987 and was Prime Minister of Finland in four cabinets for a total of ten years and he remains Finlands longest-serving prime minister. After his premiership he served as the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament from 1989 to 1991, during his career he also served twice as Deputy Prime Minister, from 1975 to 1976 and from 1987 to 1989. Sorsa is regarded as one of the most influential ministers of Finland. His contributions were important for public services, such as schools and health care and his governments made numerous important reforms in domestic policy, such as child care laws, the extension of maternity leave, the annual vacation benefit act, as well as the public health act. His governments are seen to have strengthened the Finnish welfare state, Sorsa was also an active participant in the international social democratic movement. He supported the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, as well as projects to bridge the gap between the worlds richest and poorest countries, Sorsa had a particularly difficult relationship with Paavo Väyrynen, an equally strongwilled opponent at the head of the Center Party. Another notable conflict was a rivalry with rising politician Paavo Lipponen. He met Soviet Premier Nikolai Tikhonov during his visit to the Soviet Union in 1984. After his retirement from Parliament, he served on the board of the Bank of Finland until 1996
31.
Speaker of the Parliament of Finland
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The speaker of the Parliament of Finland, along with two deputy speakers, is elected by Parliament during the first plenary session each year. Speakers are chosen for a year at a time, the speaker and two deputy speakers are elected by parliament from among its members by secret ballot. Formally, the speaker ranks second in the protocol, after the president of Finland, an interim speaker is elected for the duration of government formation talks. Parliament of Finland Diet of Finland Lantmarskalks of the Finnish House of Nobility Media related to Speakers of the Parliament of Finland at Wikimedia Commons www. eduskunta. fi
32.
Ilkka Suominen
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Ilkka Olavi Suominen is a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party. He was President of the Nordic Council in 1992 and he was member of the parliament from 1970 to 1975 and from 1983 to 1994. Suominen was the chairman of the National Coalition Party 1979–1991 and twice the speaker of the parliament 1987 and he held the position of minister of trade and industry in Holkeri cabinet 1987-1991. Suominen left parliament to become CEO of state monopoly Alko and he was elected as a member of the European Parliament for one term 1999-2004. He was also the chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE 1992-1994
33.
Rafael Erich
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Rafael Waldemar Erich was a Finnish politician from the National Coalition Party, Professor, diplomat, and Prime Minister of Finland. The sixth cabinet of the Republic of Finland, Erichs cabinet, the most important function and accomplishment of Erichs cabinet was a peace treaty with the Russian SFSR. The peace treaty was made in Tartu, Estonia, on 14 October 1920 and this was the time when the Russian SFSR finally completely recognised Finlands independence
34.
Aimo Cajander
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Aimo Kaarlo Cajander was, outside of botany, best known as Prime Minister of Finland up to the Winter War. Forest researcher Cajander came to politics in 1922 when president Ståhlberg asked him to office of prime minister. He had not earlier participated actively in politics, Ståhlberg invited him as prime minister second time in January 1924. Cajanders short-lived cabinets were merely caretakers before parliamentary elections, Cajander joined in 1927 National Progressive Party and in 1928 he was chosen as minister of defence. Cajander was elected to the Parliament in 1929, when Kyösti Kallio was elected President in 1937, Cajander was asked as the chairman of the National Progressive Party to form majority government. Cajander formed a government of the two largest parties in the parliament - Social Democrats and Agrarian League. Cajander was idealist who did not believe yet in August 1939 that Soviet Union would attack Finland, partly for this reason the Finnish Army was forced to the fight inadequately equipped. Otherwise, they had to use their own clothes and equipment, Cajander I Cabinet Cajander II Cabinet Cajander III Cabinet
35.
Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
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Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad was the third President of Finland from 1931 to 1937. Serving as a lawyer, judge, and politician in the Russian Grand Duchy of Finland, in 1917–1918, Svinhufvud was the first Head of State of independent Finland, first as Chairman of the Senate and subsequently as Protector of State or Regent. He also served as Prime Minister from 1930 to 1931, Pehr Evind Svinhufvud af Qvalstad was born in Sääksmäki. He was the son of Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, a sea captain and his father drowned at sea off Greece in 1863, when Pehr Evind was only two years old. He spent his childhood at the home of his paternal grandfather, Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, at Rapola. The Svinhufvuds are a Finland-Swedish noble family tracing their history back to Dalarna, Pehr Gustaf Svinhufvud af Qvalstad, an army lieutenant in the reign of Charles XII, had moved from there to Rapola after the Great Northern War. The family had been ennobled in Sweden in 1574, and it was introduced to the Finnish House of Nobility in 1818. Rapola was sold when his grandfather shot himself in 1866, and Svinhufvud moved to Helsinki with his mother and he attended the Swedish-language high school in Helsinki. In 1878, at the age of 16, he enrolled at the Imperial Alexander University of Helsinki, there he gained a Bachelors degree in 1881, and then completed a Master of Arts degree in 1882, his main subjects being Finnish, Russian and Scandinavian History. After this, he took a Master of Laws degree, graduating in 1886, in 1889, Svinhufvud married Alma Timgren. They had six children, Yngve, Ilmo Gretel, Aino Mary, Eino, Arne, Svinhufvuds career in law followed a regular course, he worked as a lawyer, served at district courts, and served as a deputy judge at the Turku Court of Appeal. In 1892 he was appointed as a member of the Senates law-drafting committee at the young age of 31. For six years he worked in the committee, initially redrafting taxation laws, as head of his family, Svinhufvud participated as a member of the Estate of Nobles in the Diet of Finland in 1894 and 1899-1906. He found his work on the law-drafting committee tedious and moved to the Court of Appeal as an assistant judge in 1902, Svinhufvud stayed mainly in the background until 1899, when Imperial Russia initiated a Russification policy for the autonomous Grand Duchy. The Finnish answer was mainly legislative and constitutional resistance, of which Svinhufvud became a figure as a judge in the Court of Appeals. Bobrikov demanded that they be stopped, and when this did not happen, he used a decree which the Finns regarded as illegal to dismiss sixteen officials of the court, including Svinhufvud. He moved to Helsinki to work as a lawyer and participated in the activities both of the Diet and of a secret society, Kagal. Svinhufvud played a key role in the birth of a new system in 1905
36.
Risto Ryti
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Risto Heikki Ryti was the fifth president of Finland, from 1940 to 1944. Ryti started his career as a politician in the field of economics and he made a wide range of international contacts in the world of banking and within the framework of the League of Nations. Ryti served as minister during the Winter War and the Interim Peace. Later he served as president during the Continuation War, after the war, Ryti was the main defendant in the Finnish War-responsibility trials. Risto Ryti was born in Huittinen, Satakunta, one of seven sons and his parents were Kaarle Evert Ryti, a farmer, and Ida Vivika Junttila. Although he came from a peasant farming background, during his childhood Ryti hardly participated in work on the large farm, being a bookish. He was educated briefly at Pori Grammar School, and was tutored at home. Ryti was the one of seven sons to pass the university entrance examination. Ryti graduated in autumn 1909 as Finland was moving into the period of Russification. Escaping an oppressive political atmosphere in the capital, Ryti returned to his roots in Satakunta, during this period he became acquainted with Alfred Kordelin, one of Finlands richest men. Ryti became Kordelins lawyer, and eventually the two men became close friends, during this period Ryti also undertook further studies, becoming a Master of Laws in 1912. In the spring of 1914 he moved to Oxford to study maritime law, in 1916 he married Gerda Paula Serlachius. They had three children, Henrik, Niilo, and Eva, however, in November 1917 Ryti and his wife witnessed the murder of Kordelin at the hands of a Russian Bolshevik. During the Finnish Civil War Ryti played no part, remaining in hiding with his family in Red-dominated Helsinki. Afterwards, however, he would become involved in politics, being elected a National Progressive member of Parliament in 1919. In the same year, the party candidate, an admirer of Ryti, Ryti served as a member of Parliament from 1919 to 1924 and from 1927 to 1929. During his first few years in Parliament, Ryti served as chairman of the Judiciary Committee and he also served as a member of Helsinki City Council from 1924 to 1927. In 1921, the thirty-two-year-old Ryti was appointed minister in the government of Juho Vennola
37.
Johan Wilhelm Rangell
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Johan Wilhelm Rangell was the Prime Minister of Finland from 1941 to 1943. Educated as a lawyer, he was an acquaintance of President Risto Ryti before the war. He played a role in the efforts at a 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki after the International Olympic Committee retracted the original choice of Tokyo, due to his connections to the IOC following the Berlin Olympics, Rangells political orientation was seen as Pro-German. Rangells cabinets belligerent actions in the Continuation War enjoyed the support of the Parliament and he defended the occupation of East Karelia and the regaining of the areas ceded in the Peace of Moscow. In the war-responsibility trials, Rangell was convicted for 6 years of prison in February 1946 for alleged crimes against peace, after his release, Rangell did not return to politics, but continued to work for the Finnish Olympic Committee and the IOC until 1967. He also belonged to the board of Kansallis-Osake-Pankki bank
38.
Edwin Linkomies
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Linkomies was a prominent fennoman academic, pro-rector of the University of Helsinki 1932 to 1943, rector 1956 to 1962, and the governments Chancellor of the University from 1962 until his death. Meanwhile, he had continued his research in Germany, at Leipzig, Linkomies was in many respects the last of his kind. Most of all, he was the last in a line of prominent Finnish academics who were recruited from academia to important political tasks. But he was also the last to give lectures in formal dress. According to his own account, he was one of the first Finns to realize the troubling nature of the Nazis — at least among his fellow Conservatives. In the early 1930s, he argues that his ambition was to steer Finland’s Conservative party, Kokoomus, but in order to achieve this, he appeared to conform to the lesser evils of anti-parliamentarism, militant anti-Socialism, and authoritarianism. Linkomies Cabinet Edwin Linkomies in 375 humanists 11.02.2015, Faculty of Arts, University of Helsinki
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