Kustaa Rafael Paasio, born Hellström (6 June 1903 – 17 March 1980) was a prominent Finnish

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

and editor from

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 served as

Prime Minister of Finland The prime minister of Finland ( fi, Suomen pääministeri; ) is the leader of the Finnish Government. The prime minister and their cabinet exercise executive authority in the state. The prime minister is formally ranked third in the protocol ...

twice. Paasio was born in Uskela and was in contact with the Social Democratic Labor movement at an early age. Paasio was elected to the parliament in 1948. Before that he participated in Turku municipal politics and was since 1942 the chief of newspaper Turun Päivälehti. Paasio was the chairman of SDP from 1963 to 1975, and served as the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

twice, 1966-1968 and 1972, and was also twice the Speaker of the Parliament. Both his son, Pertti Paasio, and his granddaughter, Heli Paasio, have been members of the parliament. Social Democrats remember Rafael Paasio, above all, as party unifier and strengthener. In addition, the party reached decent relations with Soviet Union during his term. Paasio positioned himself in the middle of left-wingers and right-wingers in the party. His support to

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 ...

allowed a new coming for SDP-led governments. His first cabinet began building the modern Finnish welfare state, and the second government laid the foundation for Finland's

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

agreement. Therefore, his actions had a revolutionary impact on Finnish history. Paasio was the Social Democrat candidate in the 1962 presidential elections. He died in

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''; ...

, aged 76.

Cabinets

* Paasio I Cabinet *

Paasio II Cabinet Rafael Paasio's second cabinet was the 55th government of Finland. The administration ran from 23 February 1972 to 4 September 1972. It was a minority government formed by the Social Democratic Party. Rafael Paasio resigned as Prime Minister on 4 ...

References