Vappu Taipale ( Puustinen; born 1 May 1940) 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 ...

retired politician and

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

Medical career

In 1966, Taipale graduated with a

licentiate's degree A licentiate (abbreviated Lic.) is an academic degree present in many countries, representing different educational levels. It may be similar to a master's degree when issued by pontifical universities and other universities in Europe, Latin Ame ...

in medicine and qualified to practise medicine. In 1980, she obtained her

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 the field of psychiatry from the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki ( fi, Helsingin yliopisto, sv, Helsingfors universitet, abbreviated UH) is a public research university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but founded in the city of Turku (in Swedish ''Åbo'') in 1640 as the ...

. She worked as a

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

in various roles at the

Helsinki University Central Hospital Helsinki University Central Hospital (HUCH; fi, Helsingin seudun yliopistollinen keskussairaala; sv, Helsingfors universitets centralsjukhus) is a hospital network in Finland. It is one of the largest hospitals in Europe. It encompasses 17 hospi ...

throughout the 1970s. She has also held the positions of

Docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

(Associate Professor) at the universities of Kuopio (now the

University of Eastern Finland The University of Eastern Finland ( fi, Itä-Suomen yliopisto) is a university in Finland founded in 2010 with campuses in Joensuu and Kuopio. History The Finnish Parliament passed the Universities Act on June 16, 2009, which, among other things ...

) and

Tampere Tampere ( , , ; sv, Tammerfors, ) is a city in the Pirkanmaa region, located in the western part of Finland. Tampere is the most populous inland city in the Nordic countries. It has a population of 244,029; the urban area has a population o ...

, specialising in

child and adolescent psychiatry Child and adolescent psychiatry (or pediatric psychiatry) is a branch of psychiatry that focuses on the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders in children, adolescents, and their families. It investigates the biopsychosocial fac ...

. In 1991, Taipale was awarded the title of

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

, and in 1998 she received an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

public administration Public Administration (a form of governance) or Public Policy and Administration (an academic discipline) is the implementation of public policy, administration of government establishment (public governance), management of non-profit establ ...

(''Hallintotieteiden kunniatohtori'') from the

University of Vaasa The University of Vaasa ( fi, Vaasan yliopisto, sv, Vasa universitet) is a multidisciplinary, business-oriented university in Vaasa, Finland. The campus of the university is situated by the Gulf of Bothnia adjacent to downtown Vaasa. The univ ...

Political career

Taipale joined 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 ...

in 1972. She never stood for election to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, but did run for the party's leadership in 1987. Despite not being a member of Parliament, Taipale served as the Minister of Social Affairs and Health and the Deputy Minister, respectively, in

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 ...

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

and fourth cabinets, from July 1982 to November 1984. Later she headed the National Agency for Welfare and Health (''Sosiaali- ja terveyshallitus''), and after that was replaced by the ''STAKES'' in 1992, Taipale served as its Director-General until her retirement in 2008. She also chaired her party's women's wing, , from 1984 to 1990. Taipale unsuccessfully ran for her party's nomination in the 1994 Finnish presidential election, being beaten by

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (; born 23 June 1937) is a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland (1994–2000), a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work. Ahtisa ...

, who eventually went on to win the presidency.

Personal life

Vappu Taipale is married to fellow psychiatrist and politician

Ilkka Taipale Väinö Ilkka Ilari Taipale (born 29 November 1942 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician, physician and activist. A social democrat, he was a member of the Parliament of Finland for Helsinki from 1971 to 1975 and 2000 to 2007. A doctor and surgeon ...

. They met at medical school entrance exams in 1960. The couple have four children. In 2001, she caused controversy by admitting in a newspaper interview to having experimented with

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

during her student years and considering it a worthwhile experience, for which she later apologised.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Taipale, Vappu Finnish psychiatrists 20th-century Finnish physicians 20th-century women physicians Finnish women physicians Women government ministers of Finland Social Democratic Party of Finland politicians Ministers of Social Affairs of Finland 1940 births People from Vaasa University of Helsinki alumni Academic personnel of the University of Tampere Living people 20th-century Finnish women politicians