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Lenita Airisto | |
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 Lenita Airisto (2010) | |
| Born | Hymmi Lenita Aulikki Airisto 1 January 1937 Helsinki, Finland |
Hymmi Lenita Aulikki Airisto (born 1 January 1937 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish business leader, promoter of Finnish industrial and cultural exports, TV journalist and author.
Airisto began her public career in 1954, when she became Maiden of Finland, nominated by the Disabled War Veterans' Association of Finland. Her duties involved raising funds for the rehabilitation of men, who had been severely wounded in the Winter War and Continuation War in the late 1930s and early 1940s, to help them return to a normal life.
Working as a fashion model gained Airisto the financial means for pursuing academic studies in Finland and abroad. She earned a Bachelor of Science, BSc degree from the Swedish-speaking Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, Finland, and studied TV journalism at the BBC and ITV studios in London, with RTF in Paris and with German TV channels in Hamburg, Munich and Berlin. Airisto also studied at Stanford University in California. Her studies concluded with practical experience at various TV studios in Los Angeles, including an internship with the show of Steve Allen. He also asked her to join him live on air to tell American TV viewers about Finland and Finns on the NBC channel.
Airisto had a career as a TV journalist for over 30 years, and she has appeared on more than 300 prime time current affairs shows over the years. She has also produced, designed and carried out export promotions for both individual companies and the export industry in general all around the world, the first promotion campaigns aimed at the international media and customers taking place in the 1960s. Airisto has also given lectures based on her several books at universities, schools of economics and other academic educational institutions for many years.
In 2008, Airisto's influence in Finland was verified by a survey commissioned from Taloustutkimus – she ranked among the ten most influential women in the country. Airisto has also been nominated as Woman of the Year and decorated with the Knight, First Class of the Order of the Lion of Finland.
Airisto is a very public figure who often has been an opinion-maker in even very mundane things, such as style and etiquette. She is arguably best known to the public for having made wearing tennis socks with a suit socially unacceptable in Finland in the 1980s, a practice that up to then was a common practice for Finnish businessmen abroad. Later she has among other things criticized politicians, such as Matti Vanhanen, for insufficient language skills. [1]
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is a Finnish politician who served as the 11th president of Finland, and the first woman to hold the position, from 2000 to 2012. She first rose to prominence as a lawyer with the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK), and as the Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary (1974–1975) and a member of the City Council of Helsinki (1977–1996). Halonen was a Social Democratic Party member of parliament from 1979 until her election to the presidency in 2000. She also served as a minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health from 1987 to 1990, as Minister of Justice from 1990 to 1991, and as Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2000.
Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg was a Finnish jurist and academic who was one of the most important pioneers of republicanism in the country. He was the first president of Finland (1919–1925) and a liberal nationalist.
The University of Helsinki is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland, since 1829, but 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. In 2020, around 31,600 students were enrolled in the degree programs of the university spread across 11 faculties and 11 research institutes.
Hanken School of Economics is a business school in Finland with two campuses, Helsinki and Vaasa. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest business school in Finland, and one of the oldest in the Nordic countries. Its programmes are offered in both English and Swedish.
Tarja Cronberg is a Finnish Green League politician who served as a member of the European Parliament from 2011 until 2014. Cronberg was Member of the Finnish Parliament 2003–2007. She chaired her party from 2005 until 2009 and was the Minister of Labour in the Finnish government from 2007 to 2009 as part of Matti Vanhanen's second cabinet.
Linda Magdalena Cullberg Lampenius, better known by her maiden name Linda Lampenius and international stage name Linda Brava, is a Finnish classical concert violinist. Named as one of the most versatile and accomplished players of her generation, Brava has also performed pop, rock, folk, techno, film, jazz, and world music, among others.
Kaari Marjatta Utrio is a Finnish writer. She has written over 35 historical novels and 13 non-fiction books on historical topics. She is a historian, holding the degree of Master of Arts from the University of Helsinki, and has retired from the position of Professor in service of the Finnish State Commission of Fine Arts.
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Sari Maritta Baldauf is a Finnish businesswoman who is chairman of the board of directors of Nokia. She joined the board in 2018 and became vice chair in 2019, before she succeeded Risto Siilasmaa as chairman in 2020. Until 2005, she was head of Nokia's Networks Business Group.
Kjell Westö is a Finnish author and journalist. Westö writes in Swedish. Best known for his epic novels set in Helsinki, he has also written short stories, poetry, essays and newspaper columns.
Lisa Sounio is a past CEO and chairperson of social networking site Dopplr. She is also the CEO of her own design management consultancy Sonay. She has a background in industrial design management. Early in her career she worked as a sales- and export manager in the Finnish furniture industry. Before becoming an entrepreneur she worked for Iittala where she was in charge of branding and product design development.
Aaltoes, also known as Aalto Entrepreneurship Society, is a non-profit organization run by students, based in Helsinki, Finland. Founded in 2009, Aaltoes has helped the rapid emergence of a startup culture in Finland in 2008-2011.
Lenita Anneli Toivakka is a Finnish politician and a member of National Coalition Party.
The cabinet of Juha Sipilä was the 74th government of Finland, from 2015 to 2019. It was formed following the parliamentary election of 2015 and formally appointed by President Sauli Niinistö on 29 May 2015. From June 2017, the cabinet consisted of a coalition formed by the Centre Party, Blue Reform and the National Coalition Party. The cabinet's Prime Minister was Juha Sipilä.
Jan Erola is a Finnish communications entrepreneur and former journalist and publisher. He is the part-time Head of Public Affairs of the Finnish Startup Community, and is also the CEO of his own Kravat Oy, a communications consultancy company. Kravat has designed and published a professional networking tool software application HookedOn. Erola formerly worked as an associate director for Kreab, a multinational communications agency, for both the London and Helsinki offices. For several years, Erola was involved with the Sport and Healthtech startup event SMASH, e.g. by hosting the SMASH LONDON event in 2018.
Jutta Seppinen is a Finnish conductor and mezzo-soprano.
Maria (Maikki) Elisabeth Friberg (1861–1927) was a Finnish educator, journal editor, suffragist and peace activist. She is remembered for her involvement in the Finnish women's movement, especially as chair of the Finnish women's rights organisation Suomen Naisyhdistys and as the founder and editor of the women's journal Naisten Ääni. She travelled widely, promoting understanding of Finland abroad while participating in international conferences and contributing to the foreign press.
Marja-Leena Leinonen was a Finnish linguist.
Selja Ahava is a Finnish writer. She studied scriptwriting in Helsinki, and has written scripts for film, TV and radio. Her debut novel The Day the Whale Swam through London appeared in 2010, followed by Things That Fall from the Sky which was nominated for the prestigious Finlandia Prize. This book also won the EU Prize for Literature, and has been translated into English by Emily Jeremiah and Fleur Jeremiah. Her third book Before My Husband Disappears appeared in 2017 to wide acclaim. Her fourth book The Woman Who Loved Insects was published by Gummerus in 2020.
Emilie Mechelin was a Finnish operatic soprano and pedagogue, notable among other things for being the first singing teacher of the Helsinki School of Music.
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