#FINNISH NAME MAUNO MANUAL#

Koivisto’s foreign policies continued broadly along the lines of those of his predecessors, Kekkonen and Juho Paasikivi, especially with regard to relations with the Soviet Union. Contrastingly, he was not so knowledgeable in the field of foreign policy, and approached it very cautiously during his first six-year term. Photo: Juha Kärkkäinen/LehtikuvaĪt the start of his presidency Mauno Koivisto was 58, with plenty of experience in domestic politics, particularly in economic policy. Bringing Finland closer to Europeĭuring the Helsinki Summit in September 1990, Finnish President Mauno Koivisto and his wife Tellervo (centre) hosted Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa (left) and US President George Bush and his wife Barbara. He served as prime minister again until autumn 1981, when Kekkonen, who had led Finland for 25 years, fell ill, and Koivisto became acting president until elections could be held. Mauno Koivisto returned to the hurly burly of everyday politics in spring 1979. The President and the country’s leading banker had to get along, though it was far from easy. Koivisto then returned to the Bank of Finland, where he stayed for nine long years. Koivisto wanted Finland to join Nordek, but Kekkonen was suspicious about the project.

Kekkonen and Koivisto worked well together until the spring of 1970, when their opinions of how Finland should regard the planned Nordic economic alliance Nordek differed radically.

In 1967 Koivisto had only just been named governor of the Bank of Finland when President Urho Kekkonen enticed him to take on the mantle of prime minister. Though Koivisto willingly participated in academic debates on economic policy, and was politically active within the SDP, earlier in his life he had not wanted to go into politics as his main career. The Finnish people first became aware of Koivisto when he was appointed minister of finance in spring 1966, moving from his previous position running the Helsinki Workers’ Savings Bank. No early ambition to enter full-time politics When at the start of his presidency he said he wanted to “build world peace,” the promise came right from his heart. Friendship between peoples was never an empty political cliché to him. Koivisto felt a strong Finnish identity, but from his youth he was also an internationalist. He had a modest lifestyle, and was never prone to extravagant gestures in his private life or in politics. Throughout his life Koivisto lived by the virtues he learnt in his religious, working-class childhood home.

#FINNISH NAME MAUNO MANUAL#

After the war he did hard manual work in the Turku Harbour, while also studying until he obtained a PhD in sociology. As a young man he fought against the Soviets in the Continuation War (1941–44). He also represented a generation who came of age in wartime. Koivisto was the first Finnish president from a left-wing background, from the Social Democratic Party (SDP) – and the first with working-class roots. President Mauno Koivisto and his wife Tellervo wave before boarding a plane for an official visit to Sweden in 1982, early in his presidency. He knew that there was no room at the top for the soft-hearted. Koivisto did not shirk from forceful action. He successfully achieved this plan in his own career, as well as during his time as head of state. In political circles people knew quite a different Koivisto: a skilled strategist who didn’t waste time on petty bickering, since he always had a master plan in mind.

This image certainly suited Koivisto himself, and he carefully nurtured it. Many Finns knew him by the nickname “Manu.” He was regarded as a decent, handsome and relaxed man of the people, somewhat prone to ramble during his speeches. Koivisto won presidential elections in 19, with his popularity extending across traditional political party boundaries. By the end of his period in office, he had found a new place for Finland in a rapidly evolving Europe. He was born on Novemin the southwestern city of Turku and passed away on in Helsinki.Īfter succeeding Finland’s long-term president Urho Kekkonen, Koivisto gave parliament a more prominent role in Finland’s democratic system. Mauno Henrik Koivisto served two six-year terms as president of the Republic of Finland between 19.

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