- Ahti Karjalainen
Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen (
10 February 1923 inHirvensalmi –7 September 1990 inHelsinki ) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Agrarian League (later known asKeskusta , Centre Party) and wasPrime Minister of Finland for two terms. Karjalainen can be considered one of the most influential people in post-war Finnish politics and economy. He was well known for his good relations with theSoviet Union .Karjalainen served as second Minister of Treasury, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Trade and Industry from 1957, until he formed his first government on
13 April 1962 , which was in session for 615 days until18 December 1963 . After that, the government was disbanded because SAK-sympathetic ministers had resigned because of economy-political disagreements. Karjalainen's second government was in session15 July 1970 -29 October 1971 . Karjalainen's ministrial career continued with only minor breaks to May, 1977, when he had spent 5772 days as apolitical minister . In the history of Finnish politics, this is second only toJohannes Virolainen . Karjalainen was nominated as a candidate for theParliament of Finland in 1966 and served as Member of the Parliament for 13 years.Urho Kekkonen took Karjalainen as his secretary in his first government in 1950. This was the start of co-operation between Kekkonen and Karjalainen, which continued as good and tight for over 20 years. The co-operation was broken up when Kekkonen disbanded Karjalainen's, who was seen as his future successor, second government in 1971. Karjalainen sought to be the presidential candidate for the Centre Party in 1981, but lost to Johannes Virolainen. In January 1982,Mauno Koivisto was elected asPresident of Finland after Kekkonen resigned.Karjalainen had a great career in the
Bank of Finland . He served as director of its research facility from 1953 to 1957 and was elected to the Board of Management in 1958. Karjalainen served as deputy Managing Director of the Bank of Finland from 1979, acting Chairman of the Board from 1979 to 1982 and as Managing Director from 1982 to 1983.Karjalainen was a Doctor of State Sciences. His thesis was entitled "The relationships between the monetary politics of the Bank of Finland and the state economy from 1811 to 1953 mainly regarding liquidity analysis".
Especially the latter part of Karjalainen's political career was influenced by
alcoholism (at one stage after he had left the Prime Ministry, there was a national scandal when he was arrested for drink-driving). Karjalainen's use ofalcoholic beverage s and his rather personal pronunciation of theEnglish language gave him a popular nickname "Tankero ". In Finland, "Tankero jokes" have almost become national heritage.Karjalainen died of
pancreatic cancer in September 1990.External links
* [http://www.valtioneuvosto.fi/vn/liston/base.lsp?r=1713&mode=mt&k=fi&old=1270&ministeri=Karjalainen&nro=146 Ahti Karjalainen in the minister database of the state council]
* [http://www.suunnittelu-delta.fi.client.kotisivut.com/asiakas/hs/lepola/ura2.htm Biography of Karjalainen on Hirvensalmi's pages]
* [http://194.252.88.3/radioarkistoweb.nsf/sivut/poliitikko?opendocument&pageid=Content1405012A805 Ahti Karjalainen in the YLE national sound clip gallery]
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