Hannu Aapa Takkula (born 20 November 1963) is a Finnish politician and former

Member of the European Parliament A Member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the ECSC) first met in 1952, its ...

(MEP) from

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 ...

. He is a member of the Centre Party, part of the

Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe The Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE; french: Alliance des Démocrates et des Libéraux pour l'Europe, ADLE) is a transnational alliance between two European political parties, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Euro ...

Early life

Takkula was raised in a

Laestadianism Laestadianism, also known as Laestadian Lutheranism and Apostolic Lutheranism, is a pietistic Lutheran revival movement started in Sápmi in the middle of the 19th century. Named after Swedish Lutheran state church administrator and temperanc ...

family, which is a revivalist group within the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church. At the age of 15, his family was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

because he played sports, and was allowed to watch

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

at school by his father who was the

headmaster A head master, head instructor, bureaucrat, headmistress, head, chancellor, principal or school director (sometimes another title is used) is the teacher, staff member of a school with the greatest responsibility for the management of the school ...

. Takkula and his siblings were also studying

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

, which is forbidden by Laestadianism. Disappointed he started a

rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

band. His parents became very worried and scared in the changes in their son. So his father researched schools for Takkula and chose a

Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

school in Toivonlinna. Takkula agreed to go to the school which was in southern Finland, to get away from his family in the north. Eventually he joined the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Before attending university, Takkula studied music at the Tampere Conservatory and majored in singing. In 1993 he graduated with a Master of Education from the

University of Lapland The University of Lapland is located in the city of Rovaniemi, Finland. It was founded in 1979. While UiT The Arctic University of Norway is the northernmost university in the world, the University of Lapland is the most northern university in t ...

, going on to teach at Anetjärvi comprehensive school in 1992–1995. In 2016, Takkula completed his doctorate degree in the Faculty of Education of the University of Lapland.

Political career

Takkula was elected to the

Finnish Parliament The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the unicameral and supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that power is vested in the Parliament. The ...

in 1995 and acted as a member on the Education and Culture Committee, Environment Committee and Foreign Affairs Committee until 2004. In 2004 and 2009, Takkula was elected Member of the European Parliament. In 2014

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Until ...

Takkula lost his seat, but returned later in 2015, when

Olli Rehn Olli Ilmari Rehn (; born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish economist and public official who has been serving as governor of the Bank of Finland since 2018. A member of the Centre Party, he previously served as the European Commissioner for Enlargem ...

resigned his seat after being elected to the Parliament of Finland. His work focuses mainly on the areas of International Trade, Agriculture, Education, Culture and Sports. He is a member of the ALDE group (

) and the Centre Party of Finland, currently leading the Centre Party MEP delegation. Since 2008, Takkula has hosted the annual weeklong event Supporting Multilingualism through Language Assessment at the European Parliament together with Vice-President Miguel Angel Martínez. In August 2017, the Finnish government appointed Takkula as the Finnish candidate to the

European Court of Auditors The European Court of Auditors (ECA; French: ''Cour des comptes européenne'') is one of the seven institutions of the European Union (EU). It was established in 1975 in Luxembourg in order to improve EU financial management. It has 27 members ( ...

. His term did begin in March 2018, while Takkula's seat in the European Parliament was taken by

Elsi Katainen Elsi Kaarina Katainen (born 17 December 1966) is a Finnish politician and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). She is a member of the Centre Party, part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe. Parliamentary activity Katain ...

. Takkula has authored books. He has two children and five grandchildren.

Works

* ''Where Would You Find the Courage'' . Helsinki: Arkki, 2006. . * ''For the Future: Hearts from Europe'' . Helsinki: Image and Word, 2014. .

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Takkula, Hannu 1963 births Living people People from Ristijärvi Centre Party (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1995–99) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–07) Centre Party (Finland) MEPs MEPs for Finland 2004–2009 MEPs for Finland 2009–2014 MEPs for Finland 2014–2019 Finnish Seventh-day Adventists Former Lutherans Converts to Adventism