List of presidents of Finland

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The president of Finland is Finland's head of state. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the president and the government, with the president possessing limited powers. Since 1994 no president may be elected for more than two consecutive terms. Presidents used to be elected indirectly, by an electoral college or by Parliament, but since 1994 the president has been elected directly by the people for a term of six years. The president must be a native-born Finnish citizen. The office was established by the Constitution Act of 1919. The current president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024.

Contents

List of presidents

   National Progressive Party
   Agrarian League
   National Coalition Party/National Coalition
   Social Democratic Party of Finland
   independent
№.



Portrait



President
(birth year –
death year)


Elected



Took office



Left office



Political party
(until election)


Birth day,
place
Death day,
place
1. Kaarlo Juho Stahlberg 1919.jpg Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg
(1865–1952)
1919 26 July 1919 2 March 1925 National Progressive Party * 28 January  1865,
Suomussalmi
22 September  1952,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1908–1910, 1914–1918 and 1930–1933). Speaker of parliament (1914–1917). President of the Supreme Administrative Court (1918–1919). Elected as president by the parliament in 1919.
2. Lauri Kristian Relander.jpg Lauri Kristian Relander
(1883–1942)
1925 2 March 19252 March 1931 Agrarian League * 31 May 1883,
Kurkijoki
9 February 1942,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1910–1914 and 1917–1920). Speaker of parliament (1919–1920). Governor of Viipuri Province (1920–1925). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1925.
3. President of Finland Pehr Evind Svinhufvud.jpg Pehr Evind Svinhufvud
(1861–1944)
1931 2 March 1931 1 March 1937 National Coalition Party * 15 December 1861,
Sääksmäki
29 February 1944,
Luumäki
Member of the Estate of Nobles in the Diet of Finland (1894 and 1899–1906). Member of parliament (1907–1917 and 1930–1931). Speaker of parliament (1907–1913). Regent (interim head of state) of Finland (1918). Prime Minister (1917–1918 and 1930–1931). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1931.
4. Kyosti Kallio.jpg Kyösti Kallio
(1873–1940)
1937 1 March 1937 19 December 1940
(died)
Agrarian League* 10 April 1873,
Ylivieska
19 December 1940,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1907–1937). Chairman of the Agrarian League (1909–1917). Minister of Agriculture (1919–1920 and 1921–1922). Speaker of parliament (1920–1921, 1922, 1924–1925, 1927–1928, 1929 and 1930–1936). Prime Minister (1922–1924, 1925–1926, 1929–1930 and 1936–1937). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1937. Announced resignation in 1940 because of poor health, but died in office.
5. Presidentti Risto Ryti (cropped).jpg Risto Ryti
(1889–1956)
1940
1943
19 December 1940 4 August 1944
(resigned)
National Progressive Party* 3 February 1889,
Huittinen
25 October 1956,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1919–1924 and 1927–1929). Minister of Finance (1921–1922 and 1922–1924). Governor of the Bank of Finland (1923–1940 and 1944–1945). Prime Minister (1939–1940). Elected as president by the electoral college from 1937 in 1940 and re-elected in 1943 also by the electoral college from 1937. Resigned in 1944 due to the Ryti–Ribbentrop Agreement.
6. Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim 1940.jpg Carl Gustaf Mannerheim
(1867–1951)
1944  [ fi ]4 August 1944 11 March 1946
(resigned)
independent * 4 June 1867,
Askainen
27 January 1951,
Lausanne, Switzerland
Regent (interim head of state) of Finland (1918–1919). Commander-in-Chief of the Finnish Defence Forces (1939–1945). The only Field Marshal and Marshal of Finland. Decreed as president in 1944 by an exception law. Resigned in 1946 because of poor health. Finland's only non-partisan president and the only president to die outside Finland.
7. J.K. Paasikivi 1945 portrait (cropped).jpg Juho Kusti Paasikivi
(1870–1956)
1946
1950
11 March 19461 March 1956National Coalition Party* 27 November 1870,
Koski Hl.
14 December 1956,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1907–1909 and 1910–1914). Prime Minister (1918 and 1944–1946). Elected as president by the parliament in 1946 and re-elected by an electoral college in 1950.
8. Urho-Kekkonen-1975 (cropped).jpg Urho Kekkonen
(1900–1986)
1956
1962
1968
1978
1 March 1956 27 January 1982
(resigned)
Agrarian League* 3 September 1900,
Pielavesi
31 August 1986,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1936–1956). Minister of Justice (1936–1937 and 1944–1946). Minister of the Interior (1937–1939 and 1950–1951). Speaker of parliament (1948–1950). Prime Minister (1950–1953 and 1954–1956). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1956 and re-elected in 1962, 1968 and 1978. In 1973, the term that started in 1968 was extended by four years by an exception law. Resigned in 1982 because of poor health. Served in the Finnish Civil War.
9. President Ronald Reagan with President Mauno Koivisto of Finland in the Rose Garden (cropped).jpg Mauno Koivisto
(1923–2017)
1982
1988
27 January 19821 March 1994 Social Democratic Party of Finland * 25 November 1923,
Turku
12 May 2017,
Helsinki
Minister of Finance (1966–1967 and 1972). Governor of the Bank of Finland (1968–1982). Prime Minister (1968–1970 and 1979–1982). Elected as president by an electoral college in 1982 and re-elected in 1988. The first president born in independent Finland. Served in the Continuation War of the Second World War.
10. Martti Ahtisaari Mantyniemessa (cropped).jpg Martti Ahtisaari
(1937–2023)
1994 1 March 19941 March 2000Social Democratic Party of Finland* 23 June 1937,
Viipuri
16 October 2023,
Helsinki
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (1987–1991). Elected as president in 1994. The first president elected by direct popular vote. Nobel Peace Prize laureate 2008. Member of The Elders.
11. Tarja Halonen 1c389 8827-2.jpg Tarja Halonen
(b. 1943)
2000
2006
1 March 20001 March 2012Social Democratic Party of Finland* 24 December 1943,
Helsinki
Member of parliament (1979–2000). Minister of Justice (1990–1991). Minister for Foreign Affairs (1995–2000). Elected as president in 2000 and re-elected in 2006. Finland's first female president.
12. Sauli Niinistio (52074997569).jpg Sauli Niinistö
(b. 1948)
2012
2018
1 March 20121 March 2024National Coalition* 24 August 1948,
Salo
Member of parliament (1987–2003 and 2007–2011). Chairman of the National Coalition Party (1994–2001). Minister of Justice (1995–1996). Minister of Finance (1996–2003). Speaker of parliament (2007–2011). Elected as president in 2012 and re-elected in 2018.
13. Tasavallan presidentti Alexander Stubbin kauden ensimmainen tasavallan presidentin esittely 8.3.2024 -- 5 Rajattu.jpg Alexander Stubb
(b. 1968)
2024 1 March 2024IncumbentNational Coalition* 1 April 1968,
Helsinki
Member of the European Parliament (2004–2008). Member of parliament (2011–2017). Minister for Foreign Affairs (2008–2011). Minister for European Affairs and Trade (2011–2014). Prime Minister (2014–2015). Chairman of the National Coalition Party (2014–2016). Minister of Finance (2015–2016). Elected as president in 2024.

Timeline

Alexander StubbSauli NiinistöTarja HalonenMartti AhtisaariMauno KoivistoUrho KekkonenJ. K. PaasikiviGustaf MannerheimRisto RytiKyösti KallioP. E. SvinhufvudLauri Kristian RelanderK. J. StåhlbergList of presidents of Finland

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