Pertti Kullervo Paasio (2 April 1939 – 4 April 2020) was a Finnish politician from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties For ...

. He was born in

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 ...

. Paasio participated in the municipal politics of

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

and was elected into the municipal council in 1965. Paasio became member of the Parliament in July 1975, however, he lost the seat in the 1979 parliamentary elections. In 1982 he replaced

Jacob Söderman Jacob-Magnus (Jacob) Söderman (born 19 March 1938 in Helsinki, Finland) is a Finnish politician who served as Eduskunta, Finnish Member of Parliament in 1972–1982 and again in 2007–2011. Söderman is a member of the Social Democratic Party of ...

in the Parliament and held the seat until he was elected into the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

in 1996. Paasio followed the path of his father,

Rafael Paasio Kustaa Rafael Paasio, born Hellström (6 June 1903 – 17 March 1980) was a prominent Finnish politician and editor from Social Democratic Party. He served as Prime Minister of Finland twice. Paasio was born in Uskela and was in contact with the ...

, when he was elected to succeed

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 ...

as the Chairman of Social Democratic Party in 1987. Paasio succeeded Sorsa in the government as the

Minister of 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 ...

on 1 February 1989. However, Social Democratic Party suffered a defeat in 1991 parliamentary elections, which led to the resignation of Paasio as the party chairman. His daughter

Heli Paasio Heli Tuulikki Paasio (born November 24, 1972 in Turku) is a Finnish politician from Turku. A Social Democrat, she was member of the Parliament of Finland for Finland Proper from 1999 to 2015. Paasio is daughter of Pertti Paasio and granddaugh ...

was a member of the Parliament. He died on 4 April 2020, two days after his 81st birthday.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Helsinki Leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Finland Deputy Prime Ministers of Finland Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1975–79) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1979–83) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1983–87) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1987–91) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1991–95) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1995–99) MEPs for Finland 1996–1999 Children of national leaders {{Finland-MEP-stub