Marjatta Väänänen (9 August 192316 October 2020) was a Finnish politician who was 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 ...

for the Centre Party from 1975 to 1991. She served as

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

, Minister of Education, and Minister of Social Affairs and Health.

Personal life and death

Väänänen was born on 9 August 1923 in

Jyväskylä Jyväskylä () is a city and municipality in Finland in the western part of the Finnish Lakeland. It is located about 150 km north-east from Tampere, the third largest city in Finland; and about 270 km north from Helsinki, the capital of ...

, Finland. Väänänen's father Urho Kittilä was a journalist, and she had younger siblings. Väänänen earned a degree in 1943, and a

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

degree in 1950 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 ...

. She was married to , who edited the newspaper '' Maaseudun Tulevaisuus'' (Finnish: ''The Future of the Countryside'') from 1968 to 1984. They had three children, and seven grandchildren. Väänänen died at the age of 97 on 16 October 2020 after a long illness. At the time of her death, she had been the oldest living former minister of

Finnish Government sv, Finlands statsråd , border = , image = File:Finnish Government logo.png , image_size = 250 , caption = , date = , state = Republic of Finland , polity = , coun ...

Career

In the 1950s, Väänänen worked as a news reporter for the Swedish Agricultural Association. In the 1960s, she worked part time at '' Kotiliesi'' magazine, and in 1969 she started working at

Valio Valio Ltd ( fi, Valio Oy) is a Finnish manufacturer of dairy products and one of the largest companies in Finland. Valio's products include cheese, powdered ingredients, butter, yogurt and milk. It is Finland's largest milk processor, producing 8 ...

. In 1971, Väänänen was elected to the Centre Party's women's organisation. She later became chairperson of the women's organisation. In 1972, she became the Minister of Science and Culture in

Kalevi Sorsa Taisto Kalevi Sorsa (21 December 1930 – 16 January 2004) was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland three times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987. At the time of his death he still held the record for most day ...

's government. At the

1975 Finnish parliamentary election Parliamentary elections were held in Finland on 21 and 22 September 1975. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p606 Background Prime Minister Kalevi Sorsa's Social Democratic Party government survived until Jun ...

, Väänänen was elected as a representative for

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 ...

. She received the most votes of any Centre Party female candidate in the election. She became the Minister of Education in

Martti Miettunen Martti Juhani Miettunen (17 April 1907 – 19 January 2002), was a Finnish politician who served twice as Finland's prime minister, from 1961 to 1962 and again from 1975 to 1977. Miettunen was born in Simo, the son of a smallholder. He studi ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filing ...

. That year, she gave

Martti Simojoki Martti Ilmari Simojoki, previously Simelius (September 17, 1908 in Uusikaupunki – April 25, 1999 in Helsinki) was the Archbishop of Turku, and the spiritual head of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland between 1964 and 1978. Simojoki becam ...

Archbishop of Turku The Archdiocese of Turku ( fi, Turun arkkihiippakunta, sv, Åbo ärkestift), historically known as '' Archdiocese of Åbo'', is the seat of the Archbishop of Turku. It is a part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and its see city is ...

, a petition with almost a million signatures advocating for the introduction of female priests. Whilst Education Minister, Väänänen implemented the rollout of the Pirkkala handout, an experiment in standardised teaching materials. In 1982, Väänänen became the Minister of Social Affairs and Health in

's cabinet. Whilst in the role, Väänänen supported

child benefit Child benefit or children's allowance is a social security payment which is distributed to the parents or guardians of children, teenagers and in some cases, young adults. A number of countries operate different versions of the program. In most co ...

payments, anti-alcohol policies, and the increase of provision of elderly care, particularly care homes. Her home care support bill was passed in 1985, and gave more provision for young children. Väänänen left

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

after choosing not to contest the 1991 Finnish parliamentary election. She served for four parliamentary terms, and was seen as a controversial politician. She was nicknamed ''Viikate-Väänänen'' (''

Scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor m ...

Väänänen''). Aside from politics, Väänänen was a board member of

Yle Yleisradio Oy (Finnish, literally "General Radio Ltd." or "General Broadcast Ltd."; abbr. Yle ; sv, Rundradion Ab, italics=no), translated to English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founde ...

from 1967 to 1991. She also wrote a column for ''Maaseudun Tulevaisuudessa'' (''The Rural Future'') once a week for 35 years, under the pseudonym Heikintytär. In 1994, she was awarded the title of ''ministerin'', the first woman to be bestowed the title.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaananen, Marjatta Women government ministers of Finland 1923 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Jyväskylä University of Helsinki alumni Centre Party (Finland) politicians 20th-century Finnish women politicians Health ministers of Finland