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Tarja Halonen

Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen 1c389 8827-2.jpg
Tarja Halonen in May 2011
11th President of Finland
In office
1 March 2000 – 1 March 2012
Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen
Anneli Jäätteenmäki
Matti Vanhanen
Mari Kiviniemi
Jyrki Katainen
Preceded by Martti Ahtisaari
Succeeded by Sauli Niinistö
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
13 April 1995 – 25 February 2000
Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen
Preceded by Paavo Rantanen
Succeeded by Erkki Tuomioja
Minister of Justice
In office
28 February 1990 – 26 April 1991
Prime Minister Harri Holkeri
Preceded by Matti Louekoski
Succeeded by Hannele Pokka
Member of Finnish Parliament
for Helsinki
In office
24 March 1979 – 29 February 2000
Preceded by ???
Succeeded by Ilkka Taipale
Personal details
Born Tarja Kaarina Halonen
(1943-12-24) 24 December 1943 (age 73)
Helsinki, Finland
Political party Social Democratic Party
Spouse(s) Pentti Arajärvi (m. 2000)
Children 1
Alma mater University of Helsinki
Religion Lutheranism
Signature
Website Official website

Tarja Kaarina Halonen ([tɑrjɑ kɑːrinɑ hɑlonen]; born 24 December 1943) 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, Finland also had female prime ministers (Anneli Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi). 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 political career, Halonen had a long and extensive career in trade unions and different non-governmental organizations. Her work for advancing human rights has been notable. 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 single mother in the Kallio working-class neighborhood in Helsinki. She graduated from the University of Helsinki, where she studied law from 1963 to 1968. 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 long career in the city council of Helsinki, serving there from 1977 to 1996. She started her campaign for the presidency at the beginning of 1999 after President Martti Ahtisaari announced that he would not stand for a second term in the office. She easily won her party's nomination, and eventually got 40% of the votes in the first round of the presidential elections, and 51.6% in the second, thus defeating the Centre Party's Esko Aho and becoming the 11th president of Finland.


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