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Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen · Tarja_Halonen_1c389_8827.jpg : Janwikifoto derivative work: Bff ( talk ), CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Person

Tarja Halonen

b. 1943

President of Finland from 2000 to 2012 (born 1943)

Born
24 Dec 1943 · Helsinki
Part ofFinland1510 – today

Life timeline

Their life from birth to death. On the timeline, world events of the time are shown faintly.

Showing 95 years
  1. 24 Dec 1943BornBorn in Helsinki
  2. 1979 – 2000RoleMember of the Parliament of Finland
  3. 1980 – 1981RoleChairperson
  4. 1990 – 1991RoleMinister of Justice of Finland
  5. 1990AwardCommander of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
  6. 1991 – 1995RoleRepresentative of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe
  7. 1993 – 1995RoleChairperson
  8. 1995 – 2000RoleMinister for Foreign Affairs of Finland
  9. 1995AwardOrder of the White Star, 1st Class
  10. 1995AwardDame Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George
  11. 1997AwardKnight Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon
  12. 1998AwardGrand Cross of the Order of the Lion of Finland
  13. 1999AwardGrand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic
  14. 2000AwardGrand Cross of the Order of the Cross of Liberty
  15. 2000AwardGrand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
  16. 2000 – 2012RolePresident of Finland
  17. 2000AwardRoyal Order of the Seraphim
  18. 2000AwardCollar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
  19. 2000AwardGrand Cross with Collar of the Order of the Falcon
  20. 2000AwardKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav‎

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Meanwhile in the world

Major world events during their lifetime (1943 – today).

  1. 1945Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  2. 1945 – 1946Nuremberg trials
  3. 19501950 FIFA World Cup
  4. 1950 – 1953Korean War
  5. 1953 – 1959Cuban Revolution
  6. 19541954 FIFA World Cup
  7. 1955 – 1975Vietnam War
  8. 1956Hungarian Revolution of 1956
  9. 1956Suez Crisis
  10. 19581958 FIFA World Cup
  11. 1959Antarctic Treaty System
  12. 19621962 FIFA World Cup
  13. 1962Cuban Missile Crisis
  14. 19661966 FIFA World Cup
  15. 1966 – 1976Cultural Revolution
  16. 1968Prague Spring
  17. 1969Apollo 11 Moon landing
  18. 19721972 Summer Olympics
  19. 19741974 FIFA World Cup
  20. 19781978 FIFA World Cup
  21. 1978 – 1979Iranian Revolution
  22. 1979 – 1989Soviet–Afghan War
  23. 1980 – 1988Iran–Iraq War
  24. 19841984 Summer Olympics
  25. 1985Schengen Agreement
  26. 19891989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre
  27. 1989Fall of the Berlin Wall
  28. 19901990 FIFA World Cup
  29. 1991Dissolution of the Soviet Union
  30. 19941994 FIFA World Cup
  31. 1994 – 1996First Chechen War
  32. 19981998 FIFA World Cup
  33. 2001 – 2021War in Afghanistan
  34. 2003 – 2011Iraq War
  35. 20042004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami
  36. 20062006 FIFA World Cup
  37. 20082008 Summer Olympics
  38. 2008Russo-Georgian War
  39. 20102010 Haiti earthquake
  40. 2010 – 2012Arab Spring

Biography

Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who served as the president of Finland, and the first and to date only woman to hold the position in Finland, 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.

Halonen was an extremely popular president, with her approval ratings reaching a peak of 88 percent in December 2003. She was re-elected in 2006, defeating National Coalition Party candidate Sauli Niinistö in the second round by 51% to 48%. Ineligible to run in the 2012 presidential elections because of term limits, Halonen left office on 1 March 2012 and was succeeded by Niinistö.

Widely known for her interest in human rights issues, Halonen served as the chairperson of the Finnish LGBT rights organization Seta in the 1980s, and she actively participated in the discussion of issues such as women's rights and the problems of globalization during her presidency. In 2006, she was mentioned by various commentators as a potential candidate for the United Nations Secretary-General selection, but she denied an interest at that time, stating that she wanted to finish her term as president before thinking about other career options. In 2009, Forbes named her among the 100 most powerful women in the world.

Halonen is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders, an international network of current and former women presidents and prime ministers whose mission is to mobilize the highest-level women leaders globally for collective action on issues of critical importance to women and equitable development.

Since the death of Martti Ahtisaari in 2023, Halonen is currently the oldest living former president of Finland.

Text from the Wikipedia article Tarja Halonen, CC BY-SA 4.0

About this information

Dates and life events come from this person’s Wikidata entry.

We only show events that the sources give a date for. Anything without a date is left out rather than guessed.