Minja Koskela (born 1987) is a Finnish musician, author, politician and member of the

Parliament of Finland 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 ...

, the national

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

. A member of the Left Alliance, she has represented

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

since April 2023. Koskela was born in 1987. Her father was a policeman and her mother a dental hygienist. She has three younger sisters. Aged three, she joined the Päijät-Häme conservatory's play school in her home town of

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

. In the second year of

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 ...

she moved to

to study at Sibelius High School. After high school she founded the Mitäs työt

collective A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...

. Koskela studied music at the

Sibelius Academy The Sibelius Academy ( fi, Taideyliopiston Sibelius-Akatemia, sv, Sibelius-Akademin vid Konstuniversitetet) is part of the University of the Arts Helsinki and a university-level music school which operates in Helsinki and Kuopio, Finland. It als ...

and

gender studies Gender studies is an interdisciplinary academic field devoted to analysing gender identity and gendered representation. Gender studies originated in the field of women's studies, concerning women, feminism, gender, and politics. The field ...

at the University of Tampere. She has

master's degree 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.

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 ...

s and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in music. Koskela was a music teacher for fiver years before taking a leave of absence to write her dissertation, ''Democracy Through Pop? Thinking with Intersectionality in Popular Music Education in Finnish Schools'' (2022). Koskela started writing her social-feminist blog ''Bluestocking'' in 2015 and is the author of ''Ennen kaikkea feministi'' (2019) and ''Äidiksi tuleminen'' (2021). Koskela was asked by several parties to contest parliamentary elections but declined in order to finish her book. She was political secretary to the Feminist Party group on the

City Council of Helsinki The City Council of Helsinki (, ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-seat Council's members a ...

. She was a political expert for the Left Alliance before becoming executive director of the Association of Finnish Music Education Schools in 2021. She was elected to the City Council of Helsinki at the

2021 Finnish municipal elections Municipal elections were held in Finland on 13 June 2021 after being rescheduled from 18 April due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Context The last municipal elections were held in 2017 and were won by the National Coalition Party with a 20.7 percent ...

. Koskela married film director Oskari Sipola in December 2019. She gave birth to a daughter, Else, in 2020 after earlier suffering a

miscarriage Miscarriage, also known in medical terms as a spontaneous abortion and pregnancy loss, is the death of an embryo or fetus before it is able to survive independently. Miscarriage before 6 weeks of gestation is defined by ESHRE as biochemical lo ...

. The family live in the Herttoniemi suburb of

. She is a member of the Team Play band. Koskela and Sipola jointly filed for divorce in July 2024.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Koskela, Minja 1987 births 21st-century Finnish women politicians Finnish bloggers Finnish women bloggers Finnish city councillors Finnish music educators Finnish women music educators Finnish socialist feminists 21st-century Finnish writers Left Alliance (Finland) politicians Living people Members of the Parliament of Finland (2023–2027) Politicians from Helsinki Sibelius Academy alumni University of Tampere alumni Women members of the Parliament of Finland