Pirjo Rusanen (born 18 December 1940, in Mikkeli) [1] [2] is a retired Finnish politician.
Rusanen studied business and economics, graduating in 1970, and went on to qualify as a certified accountant. She subsequently lectured for many years in management accounting. [2]
She served as a Mikkeli City Councillor for over two decades, from 1973 until 1995. [2]
Rusanen was elected to Parliament from the Mikkeli constituency (now Southern Savonia), representing the National Coalition Party, and serving for three terms until 1995. [2]
She also served as an inaugural Finnish Member of European Parliament upon Finland's accession to the EU, from January 1995 until November 1996. [1]
The Green League, shortened to the Greens, is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the political spectrum. It is a reformist party and it is supportive of feminism, animal rights and green liberal ideas.
Between 1634 and 2009, Finland was administered as several provinces. Finland had always been a unitary state: the provincial authorities were part of the central government's executive branch and apart from Åland, the provinces had little autonomy. There were never any elected provincial parliaments in continental Finland. The system was initially created in 1634. Its makeup was changed drastically on 1 September 1997, when the number of the provinces was reduced from twelve to six. This effectively made them purely administrative units, as linguistic and cultural boundaries no longer followed the borders of the provinces. The provinces were eventually abolished at the end of 2009. Consequently, different ministries may subdivide their areal organization differently. Besides the former provinces, the municipalities of Finland form the fundamental subdivisions of the country. In current use are the regions of Finland, a smaller subdivision where some pre-1997 läänis are split into multiple regions. Åland retains its special autonomous status and its own regional parliament.
Eastern Finland was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Oulu, Western Finland and Southern Finland. It also bordered Russia to the east.
Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki is a Finnish politician who was the first female and 39th prime minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from Finland.
The Left Alliance is a socialist political party in Finland.
Mikkeli is a city in Finland and the regional capital of South Savo. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Mikkeli is approximately 52,000, while the sub-region has a population of approximately 68,000. It is the 18th most populous municipality in Finland, and the 19th most populous urban area in the country.
Satu Maijastiina Hassi is a Finnish politician, and former Member of the European Parliament for the Green League. She served as the Minister of Environment and Development Co-Operation in Paavo Lipponen's second cabinet between 15 April 1999 and 31 May 2002. In accordance with her party's position on the issue, she quit the cabinet in protest of the government's decision to build a fifth nuclear power plant in Finland. Hassi served as the leader of her party between 1999 and 2001. She was a member of the national parliament from 1991 to 2004; she left the parliament when she was elected to the European Parliament as the sole Finnish Green representative in the 2004 election.
Pieksämäki is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southern Savonia region, about 75 kilometres (47 mi) north of Mikkeli, 85 kilometres (53 mi) east of Jyväskylä and 95 kilometres (59 mi) south of Kuopio. The town has a population of 17,213 and covers an area of 1,836.22 square kilometres (708.97 sq mi) of which 266.76 km2 (103.00 sq mi) is water. The population density is 10.97 inhabitants per square kilometre (28.4/sq mi). Neighbour municipalities are Hankasalmi, Joroinen, Juva, Kangasniemi, Leppävirta, Mikkeli, Rautalampi and Suonenjoki.
Olli Ilmari Rehn is a Finnish public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargement from 2004 to 2010, European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs and the Euro from 2010 to 2014, and Minister of Economic Affairs in Juha Sipilä's cabinet from 2015 until 2016. Rehn ran for President of Finland as an independent candidate in 2024, but was not elected.
Märta Elisabeth Rehn is a Finnish former politician and diplomat. She served as the Minister of Defence of Finland during 1990 to 1995 and as an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations during 1998 to 1999. She was also a member of the Finnish Parliament and parliamentary leader of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, and a member of the European Parliament.
The 1996 European Parliament election in Finland was the first election of the Finnish delegation to the European Parliament.
Jutta Pauliina Urpilainen is a Finnish politician. She was the first female chair of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, which she led from 2008 to 2014. She was the Minister of Finance as well as the Deputy Prime Minister of Finland from 2011 to 2014. Since 1 December 2019, she is the European Commissioner for International Partnerships in the European Commission led by Ursula von der Leyen. She announced her candidacy for the 2024 election for President of Finland in November 2023.
Pirjo Irene Honkasalo is a Finnish film director who has also worked as a cinematographer, film editor, producer, screenwriter and actress. In 1980 she co-directed Flame Top with Pekka Lehto, with whom she worked earlier and later as well. The film was chosen for the 1981 Cannes Film Festival. In the 1990s she focused on feature documentaries such as "The Trilogy of the Sacred and the Satanic". Honkasalo returned to fiction with Fire-Eater (1998) and Concrete Night (2013), both of which were written by Pirkko Saisio. Concrete Night won six Jussi Awards in 2014, among them the Jussi for the Best Direction and the Jussi for the Best Film. Its world premiere was at the Toronto International Film Festival in Masters series.
Liisa Anneli Jaakonsaari is a Finnish politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2009 until 2019. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Pertti Edvard Salolainen CBE is a Finnish politician. He has served as MP from the National Coalition Party and party chairman (1991–1994) and Minister (1987–1995).
Riikka Pirjo Maaria Slunga-Poutsalo is a Finnish politician currently serving as State Secretary to Minister of Finance Riikka Purra. A member of the Finns Party, she has previously served as a member of parliament from 2019 to 2023, representing the Uusimaa constituency.
Pirjo Anneli Ala-Kapee-Hakulinen is a Finnish politician who was the minister of education in the fourth cabinet of prime minister Kalevi Sorsa from 1986 to 1987. A member of the Social Democratic Party, she was also a member of the Finnish Parliament from 1979 to 1989.
Vuokko Rehn was a Finnish politician.
Riitta Jouppila is a Finnish physician and politician.
Anders Anshelm Kannisto was a Finnish trade unionist, politician and member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature of Finland. A member of the Social Democratic Party, he represented Mikkeli Province between May 1907 and January 1911. A member of the Red Guard, he was taken prisoner by the White Guard at the start of the Finnish Civil War in 1918. After the war Kannisto was sentenced to eight years in prison for treason. He was released in 1921.