Rolf Johan Witting (30 September 1879 in Viipuri – 11 October 1944 in Porvoon maalaiskunta) was a Finnish oceanographist and politician, member of four of

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 northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

's cabinets 1924–1943.

Scientific career

Witting graduated as

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in 1897,

Candidate of Philosophy Candidate of Philosophy can refer to the US degree or status of Candidate in Philosophy (C.Phil. or Ph.C.) granted to Ph.D. students who have been accepted as candidates for that degree, or (as a direct translation) to degrees or former degrees at ...

in 1901,

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in 1907, Licentiate 1909 and

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

in 1910. He served as the director-general of the

Finnish Institute of Marine Research The Finnish Institute of Marine Research (FIMR) ( fi, Merentutkimuslaitos and sv, Havsforskningsinstitutet) was a research institute founded in 1918 that was subordinate to the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The institute's main objec ...

from 1918–1936.

Politics

He was elected as 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 ...

on 1 May 1924 from Uusimaa constituency. He was deputy minister for

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership organization and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and ...

1934–1936, and 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 ...

1937–1943. Witting served in business life as a head of corporate government in the

Hanken School of Economics Hanken School of Economics (Swedish: ''Svenska handelshögskolan,'' also known as Hanken) is a business school in Finland with two locations, Helsinki and Vaasa. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest business school in Finland, and one of the oldest i ...

, the Delegation of the Finnish Academies of Science and Letters and the

Geographical Society of Finland Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and ...

. Also he was as a member of corporate government in Teollisuushypoteekkipankki, Suomen pankkiyhdistys and

Hufvudstadsbladet ''Hufvudstadsbladet'' (abbr. ''Hbl'') is the highest-circulation Swedish-language newspaper in Finland. Its headquarters is located in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. The name of the newspaper translates approximately into "Journal of the Capi ...

References

1879 births 1944 deaths Politicians from Vyborg People from Viipuri Province (Grand Duchy of Finland) Swedish-speaking Finns Finnish people of German descent Swedish People's Party of Finland politicians Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1924–27) Finnish people of World War II Continuation War University of Helsinki alumni World War II political leaders {{finland-politician-stub