Maria Karoliina Ohisalo (born 8 March 1985) is a Finnish politician and researcher who served as

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

between 2019 and 2021. The leader of the

Green League The Green League (VIHR, fi, Vihreä liitto , sv, Gröna förbundet), shortened to the Greens ( fi, Vihreät, sv, De Gröna), is a green political party in Finland. Ideologically, the Green League is positioned on the centre-left of the polit ...

, she has been a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

since 2019. Ohisalo served as the Green League's interim leader after

Touko Aalto Touko Juhani Aalto (born 1 April 1984) is a Finnish politician. He was chairman of the Green League from 2017 to 2018. He represented the electoral district of Central Finland in the Parliament of Finland 2015–2019. Life Aalto was born in Sa ...

stepped down in September 2018. She was the only candidate in the Green League leadership election which was held in June 2019. She co-chaired the Union of Green Youth and Students from 2013 to 2014 and has been a member of the Helsinki City Council since 2017 and an MP since 2019.

Early life and studies

Ohisalo was born in 1985 in

Vesala Vesala ( sv, Ärvings) is a neighborhood in eastern Helsinki, 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 no ...

in eastern Helsinki. She lived her childhood in poverty in the suburbs of Helsinki as her parents were often unemployed, and she spent one year in a shelter. Her father's alcohol problem led to the separation of her parents. Her mother however continued her studies and worked in the evenings and on weekends. Maria was active in football and athletics already at a young age. Ohisalo graduated from the Mäkelänrinne Sports

High School A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

in 2004 and received a master's degree in

social science Social science is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of societies and the relationships among individuals within those societies. The term was formerly used to refer to the field of sociology, the original "science of soc ...

from 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 ...

in 2011. In 2017, Ohisalo defended her doctorate in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

at the

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

's Department of Social Sciences. For her doctoral work, she studied

food aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

and long-term

homelessness Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

at the Socca Social Expertise Center in the

Helsinki Metropolitan Area Greater Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin seutu, Suur-Helsinki, Swedish: ''Helsingforsregionen'', ''Storhelsingfors'') is the metropolitan area surrounding Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. It includes the smaller Capital Region (''Pääkaupunkiseutu' ...

, under the auspices of the Helsinki City Social and Health Agency. During her studies from 2014 to 2017, Ohisalo was a member of the Federation of Higher Education Students in Social Sciences. She worked as a researcher at the

Y Foundation Y, or y, is the twenty-fifth and penultimate letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. According to some authorities, it is the sixth (or sevent ...

Political career

Ohisalo joined the

in 2008. In 2010, Ohisalo was elected a member of the

Kallio Kallio (; sv, Berghäll; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the mo ...

parochial church council (

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland ( fi, Suomen evankelis-luterilainen kirkko; sv, Evangelisk-lutherska kyrkan i Finland) is a national church of Finland. It is part of the Lutheran branch of Christianity. The church has a legal positio ...

), but she resigned when she moved away from the area in October 2011. Ohisalo has been a member of the Green Union Social and Health Policy Programming Group from 2010 to 2011. Ohisalo was chair of the International Affairs Working Group of the

Federation of Green Youth and Students The Federation of Green Youth and Students (''Vihreiden nuorten ja opiskelijoiden liitto ry'' (ViNO) in Finnish or ''De gröna unga och studerandenas förbund'' in Swedish) is a political youth organization in Finland. It is the youth wing of the ...

in 2011. In 2012, she was a member of the board of the organization and responsible for international affairs. In 2012, Ohisalo was chairman of the Youth Working Group on the Future of Nordic Cooperation in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was also a member of the board of directors of the Nordic Youth League in 2012. In the 2012 Helsinki municipal elections, Ohisalo received 612 votes and became a deputy delegate. In 2013 she was a member of the Youth Board and a member of the Board of the Helsinki and

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; sv, Nyland, ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, He ...

Hospital District for the remainder of 2014 to 2017. She was elected to the City Council of Helsinki with 4,400 votes in the 2017 municipal elections. In 2013, she was elected co-chair of the Federation of Green Youth and Students together with

Veli-Matti Partanen Veli-Matti "Aku" Partanen (born 28 October 1991, in Lappeenranta) is a Finnish racewalker who competes mostly at the 50 kilometres race walk. Partanen's club is Lappeenrannan Urheilumiehet. Partanen competed at the 2013 World Championships in Mo ...

and in 2014 together with Aaro Häkkinen. She was a member of the party council from 2013 to 2015. Ohisalo was a candidate for the 2014 European Parliament elections and received 3,089 votes. In June 2015, she was elected vice-chair of the Green League. She was also a candidate for the 2015 parliamentary elections and received 4,087 votes, which was only 109 votes less than necessary to be elected. From 2015 to 2018, she was a member of the parish council of Helsinki and the council of the parish of Paavali (Saint Paul). Ohisalo was nominated for the chair of the Green League in the pre-election vote among party members before the 2017 Tampere party congress and attracted attention after coming very close to second place among the six candidates despite being relatively unknown. On 18 September 2018, she was appointed as the official vice chair of the Greens, while

was on sick leave. Ohisalo was nominated for the parliamentary election in 2019 and was became a member of parliament in the constituency of Helsinki. She received 11,797 votes and was the country's seventh most popular female candidate. In June 2019, the Greens decided to present Ohisalo as their choice for the post of minister of the interior in the Antti Rinne cabinet. In June 2019, Ohisalo was elected chair of the Greens at the party congress in the city of

Pori ) , website www.pori.fi Pori (; sv, Björneborg ) is a city and municipality on the west coast of Finland. The city is located some from the Gulf of Bothnia, on the estuary of the Kokemäki River, west of Tampere, north of Turku and north-w ...

Personal life

Ohisalo has played football in

FC Kontu FC Kontu is a football club from Helsinki, Finland. It serves Kontula in East Helsinki and the immediately surrounding area. The club was formed in 1967 under the name Kontulan Urheilijat (abbreviated KontU), the name being changed in 1994. The ...

and

FC Viikingit FC Viikingit is a Finnish football club based in Vuosaari, East Helsinki, and currently playing in the ''Kakkonen'', the third tier of Finnish football. They play their home matches at Vuosaaren urheilukenttä, also called Heteniitty. The club ...

and has participated in

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

competing for Helsingin Kisa-Veikot. In adulthood, she has won prizes in track cycling. Playing video games – including those by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

– has been an important hobby for her. At one time she considered applying for

game designer Game design is the art of applying design and aesthetics to create a game for entertainment or for educational, exercise, or experimental purposes. Increasingly, elements and principles of game design are also applied to other interactions, in ...

training. Ohisalo's spouse is Miika Johansson. In July 2021, she announced that she was pregnant with their first child.

Honors

FIN Order of the White Rose Commander BAR

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. ...

(Finland, 2022)

References

, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Ohisalo, Maria 1985 births Living people Ecofeminists Politicians from Helsinki Green League politicians Ministers of the Interior of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (2019–23) 21st-century Finnish women politicians Women government ministers of Finland Female interior ministers Finnish environmentalists Finnish feminists Finnish track cyclists University of Helsinki alumni