Eino Jaakko Untamo Hallama (until 1934 ''Airaksinen''; 28 March 1917 Kuopio – 11 February 1996

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

) was a Finnish diplomat and a longtime Ambassador of Finland to Moscow, who served as

minister for foreign affairs A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

in the Lehto caretaker government from 1963 to 1964. Hallama's parents were a lawyer, Eino Arvid Airaksinen, a lawyer and a kindergarten teacher, Inga Kajsi Hallman. He spent some of his childhood and youth in Viipuri.After divorcing his parents, Jaakko took up his mother's maiden name when he was 16 years old. He translated it from Hallman to Hallama. He graduated from Kuopio lyceum in 1936, studied at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

in 1938 and graduated in Finland as a Bachelor of Philosophy in 1941. In 1960 he received a Special Envoy and a Plenipotentiary Minister.''Facta 2001'', osa 5, p. 438. WSOY 1982.Arto Teronen ja Jouko Vuolle: ''Syntymälahjana Suomi: Itsenäisyyden lapsia'', s. 37–49. Helsinki: Kirjapaja, 2016. . Hallama has been employed by the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

since 1941. He served as Assistant to the Ministry from 1941 to 1943, Assistant to Bern in 1943-1945 and as a Chamber Secretary in 1945–1948. Hallama served as secretary of state in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

from 1948 to 1949 and in Washington from 1949 to 1952 and then as a division officer in 1952-1954 and as counselor in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

1954–1958. He served as director general for political affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1959 to 1962, secretary of state from 1962 to 1967, ambassador to

in 1967-1970 and 1974-1982 and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

(1970-1974).''Kuka kukin on 1978'', s. 172.
Projekt Runeberg. As Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Hallama was forced into resign at the middle of a

Note crisis The Note Crisis ( fi, noottikriisi, sv, notkrisen) was a political crisis in Soviet–Finnish relations in 1961. The Soviet Union sent Finland a diplomatic note on October 30, 1961, referring to the threat of war and West German militarizatio ...

in the fall of 1961, and his role in the settlement was later a huge controversy. Hallama first visited with Foreign Minister

Ahti Karjalainen Ahti Kalle Samuli Karjalainen (10 February 1923 – 7 September 1990) was a Finnish politician. He was a member of the Agrarian League (later known as Keskusta, Centre Party) and served two terms as Prime Minister of Finland. He is, however, be ...

in Moscow and eventually with President

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as prime minister ...

in Novosibirsk. Hallama received in Novosibirsk information about the ousting of Chancellor of Justice Olavi Honka from candidate in presidential nomination. According to the history of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, quoted by historian Timo Soikkanen, Hallama would immediately have turned to the US Embassy in Helsinki to inform

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

in order to receive moral support to Finland. According to Soikkanen, Hallama secured the matter from the president and the government and thus took a huge risk for his career. Most other historians, however, have considered Soikkanen's views of Hallama's action as unfounded and imaginative. Among other things, Ilkka Pastinen, who has acted as UN ambassador to Finland, said that, on the contrary, Hallama was extremely cautious. At about 40 years of age, Hallama became ill with

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, which was attempted in 1963 to improve her condition at the Karolinska Hospital in Stockholm by surgery by the world-famous Swedish brain surgeon Herbert Olivecrona. However, the operation did not succeed, as a result of which Hallama lost his speech almost completely. Despite his illness, Urho Kekkonen relied on his Soviet knowledge so much that he named Hallama as an important ambassador to Moscow in 1967. After four years as an ambassador in

, Hallama returned to Moscow as Ambassador in 1974. When

Mauno Koivisto Mauno Henrik Koivisto (; 25 November 1923 – 12 May 2017) was a Finnish politician who served as the ninth president of Finland from 1982 to 1994. He also served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 1 ...

became a new president in 1982, Hallama was called home from Moscow and moved from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to retire in 1983 after working for more than 40 years. Jaakko Hallama was married since 1947 with Anita Hallama (''née''. Weber) and had two sons. Anita Hallama became known for her long-term relationship with President Urho Kekkonen. According to Kauko Jämsén, who has been a secretary in Moscow under the auspices of Hamaam, Kekkonen has appointed an already seriously ill Jaakko Hallama Ambassador to Moscow in 1974, specifically from Anita Hallama's will, even though the Soviet people had been told that Hallama was a less desirable person because of his unclear speech.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hallama, Jaakko 1917 births 1996 deaths Diplomats from Vyborg Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Finland Ambassadors of Finland to the Soviet Union Ambassadors of Finland to Denmark Ambassadors of Finland to Mongolia Ambassadors of Finland to Afghanistan People with Parkinson's disease