Jyrki Ilari Otila (2 September 1941, in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

– 14 April 2003, in

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

) was a Finnish

quiz show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating whe ...

judge and a member of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two 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 ...

. Otila graduated as an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

. He became popular as the judge of several quiz shows on

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

. Otila worked as assistant office chief for the Finnish national public broadcasting company

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

from 1965 to 1970, in the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (, ; from ) is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of the Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over 7 million people, Dar es Salaam is the largest city in East Africa by population and the ...

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

, from 1970 to 1973, in Yle in 1974, in the

Ministry for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral rela ...

as a development aid expert in Tanzania from 1975 to 1977, and as a factory chief for the

Orion Corporation Orion may refer to: Common meanings * Orion (constellation), named after the mythical hunter * Orion (mythology), a hunter in Greek mythology Arts and media Fictional entities Characters and species * Orion (character), a DC Comics c ...

Arusha Arusha is a city in Tanzania. The city is the Capital city, capital of the Arusha Region. It has a population of 617,631 people.

, Tanzania, from 1977 to 1980. Otila wrote questions for Yle TV2's quiz show '' Thilia Thalia Tallallaa'' from 1982 until moving to work on quizzes for the new channel

Kolmoskanava Kolmoskanava (also known as TV3 and informally as Kolmonen) was a Finnish free-to-air television station owned and operated by Oy Kolmostelevisio Ab, a joint venture between MTV Oy, Yle and Nokia. The latter's interest in television operations ...

. He worked as assistant chairman of the board of Oy VipVision Finland Ltd. from 1995. ''Thilia Thalia Tallallaa'' was continued in 1998. At the Kolmoskanava and Neloskanava channels, Otila was involved in the production of the quiz shows '' Kolmosvisa'', '' Tietopörssi'' and '' Nelosvisa''. He was often paired with the television presenter

Reijo Salminen Reijo is a Finnish male given name. There are more than 27,000 people with this name in Finland. More than half of them were born in the 1940s and 1950s. It originated as a variation of the Latin name Gregorius and the Greek name Gregorios, which a ...

. Otila was himself a skilled quiz show contestant and finished in third place in the Suomen Tietoviisas quiz in 1994. Otila was elected as a member of the European Parliament from Finland for the years 1996 to 1999 (

National Coalition Party The National Coalition Party (NCP; , Kok; , Saml) is a liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in Finland, political party in Finland. It is the current governing political party of Finland. Founded in 1918, the ...

), where he was a member of the Committee on Regional Policy and an alternate member of the Committee on Agricultural Policy. Otila died of long-time

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on 14 April 2003.

Offices

* Suomen Veteraanijääkiekkoliitto, member of the board, 1983–2003 * Suomen Jääkiekkomuseoyhdistys, member of the board, 1984–2003 * Kansainvälinen Jääkiekkoliitto, member of the veteran ice hockey committee, 1992–2003 * Suomi-Hong Kong kauppayhdistys, member of the board, 1984 * Olutliitto, chairman of the board, from 2000 * Suomen syöpäpotilaat RY

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Otila, Jyrki 1941 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Helsinki Finnish game show hosts National Coalition Party MEPs Deaths from cancer in Finland