Fatbardhe Hetemaj (born 20 August 1985) is a

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

-born Finnish politician, author, and 2009 "Refugee Woman of the Year". Hetemaj was born to Emine and Miftar Hetemaj in

Skenderaj Skenderaj ( sq-definite, Skënderaj or ''Skënderaji'') or Srbica ( sr-Cyrl, Србица) is a town and municipality located in the Mitrovica District of Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Skënderaj has 9,372 inhabitants, while ...

, and she is of

Kosovo Albanian The Albanians of Kosovo ( sq, Shqiptarët e Kosovës, ), also commonly called Kosovo Albanians, Kosovar/Kosovan Albanians or Kosovars/Kosovans, constitute the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Kosovo Albanians belong to the ethnic Albanian sub-gr ...

descent. She has three siblings

Përparim Hetemaj Përparim Hetemaj (born 12 December 1986) is a Finnish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Veikkausliiga club Helsingin Jalkapalloklubi, HJK. Born in modern-day Kosovo, Hetemaj arrived in Finland when he w ...

Mehmet Hetemaj Mehmet Hetemaj (born 8 December 1987) is a Finnish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is of Kosovar Albanian descent and has represented both Finland national team and Kosovo national football team, but now ...

, and Fatlume Hetemaj. In the fall of 1992, Hetemaj and her family arrived in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

after fleeing the regime of

Slobodan Milosevic Slobodan ( sr-Cyrl, Слободан) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name which means "free" (''sloboda'' / meaning "freedom, liberty") used among other South Slavs as well. It was coined by Serbian liberal politician Vladimir Jovanović w ...

and lived in a refugee center in

Oulu Oulu ( , ; sv, Uleåborg ) is a city, municipality and a seaside resort of about 210,000 inhabitants in the region of North Ostrobothnia, Finland. It is the most populous city in northern Finland and the fifth most populous in the country after: ...

. From 2005 to 2008, she studied

Business management Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and Combined studies at the

University of Worcester , motto_lang = la , mottoeng = ''Aspire to Inspire'' , established = 1946 – Worcester Emergency Teacher Training College 1948 – Worcester Teacher Training College 1976 – Worcester College of Higher Education 1997 – ...

. She graduated with a

Bachelors of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

with Honours in Business Management. In 2009, the Finnish Refugee Council named Hetemaj "Refugee Woman of the Year" for her work against racism In 2010, she published her book "Matkalaukullinen aurinkoa : pakomatka pohjoiseen" (Sun in a suitcase: an escape to the north). In 2011, she ran as a coalition candidate for the

National Coalition Party sv, Samlingspartiet , leader1_title = Chairman , leader1_name = Petteri Orpo , leader2_title = Deputy chairs , leader2_name = Antti Häkkänen Elina ValtonenAnna-Kaisa Ikonen , merger = Finnish Party, Young Finnis ...

but lost the election. In 2012, Hetemaj was elected as one do the City Councilors for the

Helsinki City Council The City Council of Helsinki (, ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-seat Council's members a ...

. On July 28, 2015, she appeared alongside

Erkki Tuomioja Erkki Sakari Tuomioja (born 1 July 1946) is a Finnish politician and a member of the Finnish Parliament. From 2000 to 2007 and 2011 to 2015, he served as the minister for foreign affairs. He was president of the Nordic Council in 2008. Tuomioja ...

, Ozan Yanar, and

Paavo Arhinmäki Paavo Erkki Arhinmäki (born 13 December 1976, in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician, a member of the Finnish Parliament and a former Minister for Culture and Sport, representing the Left Alliance, a party whose leader he was from 2009 to 2016. H ...

at an event against racism in Helsinki that attracted nearly 15,000 people. A documentary film about Hetemaj and her family premiered at the Refugee Film Festival in 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hetemaj, Fatbardhe Living people 1985 births 21st-century Finnish women politicians Alumni of the University of Worcester Finnish people of Albanian descent Finnish people of Kosovan descent Finnish political people Kosovan refugees Kosovan emigrants to Finland National Coalition Party politicians People from Skenderaj Refugees in Finland