Sylvi Inkeri Anttila ( Metsämies; 29 November 1916 – 6 July 2013) was a Finnish

jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...

and

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

who was the Minister of Justice of Finland during the

caretaker government A caretaker government is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it usually consists of either randomly se ...

Keijo Liinamaa Keijo Antero Liinamaa (6 April 1929 in Mänttä – 28 June 1980 in Helsinki) was a Finnish lawyer and politician who served as caretaker Prime Minister of Finland from June to November 1975. Liinamaa, a lawyer specialising in labour law, ...

in 1975. She studied criminal law at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

, becoming the first woman in Finland to receive a doctorate in law in 1946 and the first female professor of criminal law in Finland in 1961.

Early life and education

Sylvi Inkeri Metsämies was born on 29 November 1916 in Viipuri, Finland. She was the only child of Veini Metsämies, a lawyer, and Sylvi Airio, a musician. Metsämies graduated from high school in 1933 and attended the Faculty of Law at the

. She married Sulo Anttila, a

pulmonologist Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract.

, on 8 December 1934; they had three children born between 1938 and 1944. Inkeri Anttila received the

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree in 1937 and passed the

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in 1942. The family moved to

Imatra Imatra is a town and municipality in southeastern Finland. Imatra is dominated by Lake Saimaa, the Vuoksi River and the border with Russia. On the other side of the border, away from the centre of Imatra, lies the Russian town of Svetogorsk. ...

where Sulo worked at a local

sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal, make healthy'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, are antiquated names for specialised hospitals, for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often ...

, and evacuated five times during the

Continuation War The Continuation War, also known as the Second Soviet-Finnish War, was a conflict fought by Finland and Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1944, as part of World War II.; sv, fortsättningskriget; german: Fortsetzungskrieg. A ...

. Anttila received the

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

degree in

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

from the University of Helsinki in 1946 after defending her dissertation titled "Consent as a justifying ground". She was the first woman to receive a doctorate in law in Finland. She later received a licentiate degree in sociology from the University of Helsinki in 1954.

Career

Anttila became an associate professor in criminal and procedural law in 1947, and completed a

habilitation thesis Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

in penal law the following year. In the 1950s, she was the director of a training center for prison staff and published works on criminal law. Anttila was appointed to a full professorship at the University of Helsinki in 1961, becoming the first female professor in criminal law in Finland. She became the first director of the Institute of Criminology in Finland's Ministry of Justice in 1963, and led various government commissions on

juvenile crime Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

, abortion, and women's rights. During this time, Anttila frequently hosted a "night task force" (''yötyöryhmä'') at her home as a discussion space where Ph.D. students of criminal law could receive guidance and informal supervision. She was appointed as

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a v ...

caretaker Caretaker may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Caretaker'' (film), a 1963 adaptation of the play ''The Caretaker'' * ''The Caretakers'', a 1963 American film set in a mental hospital * Caretaker, a character in the 1974 film '' T ...

prime minister

on 13 June 1975, and held the position until 30 November 1975, when a new coalition government was formed. She was the first female Minister of Justice in Finland, and led discussions to reform

conditional sentence Conditional sentences are natural language sentences that express that one thing is contingent on something else, e.g. "If it rains, the picnic will be cancelled." They are so called because the impact of the main clause of the sentence is ''cond ...

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is invo ...

, and parole during her six-month tenure. She also worked to repeal a law that prevented women from serving in certain government roles. During this year, Anttila was also elected as chair of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

' World Criminal Justice Conference. In the early 1980s, she was the first director of the UN's European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control (HEUNI), which was based in Finland. Throughout her career, Anttila advocated for a humane approach to criminal justice, working towards both reforms in sentencing for offenders and improving protections and services for victims. She was described as an "influential reformist" of the harsh Finnish criminal policies of the 1950s.

Death

Anttila died on 6 July 2013 in Helsinki, at the age of 96.

Selected publications

According to

WorldCat WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of tens of thousands of institutions (mostly libraries), in many countries, that are current or past members of the OCLC global cooperative. It is operated by OCLC, Inc. Many of the OCL ...

, Anttila authored 79 works between 1946 and 2009. Selected publications include: * * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anttila, Inkeri Finnish jurists 1916 births 2013 deaths 20th-century jurists 21st-century jurists Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Criminology educators Finnish legal scholars Finnish women academics Ministers of justice of Finland University of Helsinki alumni Finnish criminologists Finnish women criminologists Women jurists