Anna Silvia Modig (born 8 July 1976) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

politician; and a former journalist, and radio and TV host. She was a 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 ...

2011–2019, representing the Left Alliance, and was elected to 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 2019. Modig is also a member of the

Helsinki City Council 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 ...

Career

Modig belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland. She was raised in the eastern suburbs of Helsinki. Modig started her television career at the age of 18 working for the

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, found ...

Children and Youth. Her latest TV show was

YLE Teema Yle Teema was a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish public broadcasting company Yle. The channel was dedicated to culture, sciences and learning. The channel was known for its "Theme Saturday" (Teemalauantai/Tema Lördag) which ...

's talk show ''Popkult''. Modig was elected to the

by 895 votes in the 2008 municipal elections as an independent candidate on the Left Alliance list. Modig was elected to the parliament in the 2011 elections, and re-elected in the

2015 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in the year 2015. Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burun ...

. She was left out of the parliament in the 2019 elections, but was elected to the European Parliament in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held between 23 and 26 May 2019, the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) represent more than 512 million peopl ...

with 51,608 votes nationwide as the only representative of the Left Alliance.

Personal life

Modig is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

and is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetarianism m ...

. She was in a

registered partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with a Finnish artist and writer Rakel Liekki, but they broke up in October 2011. In June 2019, she married her partner Meri Valkama, who is the Communications Manager and Group Secretary of the Left Alliance Helsinki District.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modig, Silvia 1976 births Living people Politicians from Helsinki Swedish-speaking Finns Left Alliance (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–15) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–19) Finnish journalists Finnish LGBT journalists Finnish LGBT entertainers Finnish LGBT politicians LGBT MEPs for Finland Finnish LGBT broadcasters Lesbian politicians 21st-century Finnish women politicians Women members of the Parliament of Finland MEPs for Finland 2019–2024 Finnish women journalists