Richard Evert Björnson Tötterman (10 October 1926,

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 ...

Kuka kukin on 1978
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Education

Tötterman studied law at the

University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...

, gaining a Licentiate of Law degree in 1949. He continued his studies at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

, earning a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1951 with his thesis titled "The scope of the rule '' locus regit actum'' in the conflict of laws".

Career

Tötterman served as the Permanent Secretary of the

President of Finland The president of the Republic of Finland (; ) is the head of state of Finland. The incumbent president is Alexander Stubb, since 1 March 2024. He was elected president for the first time in 2024 Finnish presidential election, 2024. The presi ...

from 1966 to 1970, and of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs from 1970 to 1975. This was followed by Ambassadorships to London (1975–1983) and

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

(1983–1990). He also played a key role in organising the CSCE summit, leading to the

Helsinki Accords The Helsinki Final Act, also known as Helsinki Accords or Helsinki Declaration, was the document signed at the closing meeting of the third phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland, betwee ...

in 1975.

Awards and honours

In 1982, Tötterman was made Honorary Fellow of his ''alma mater'',

Brasenose College Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...

. He was made Commander of the

Order of the White Rose of Finland The Order of the White Rose of Finland (; ) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. The President of Finland is the Grand Master of all three orders. The ...

. Tötterman was also awarded honorary OBE in 1961, as well as Knight (1969) and Knight Grand Cross (1976) of the

Royal Victorian Order The Royal Victorian Order () is a dynastic order of knighthood established in 1896 by Queen Victoria. It recognises distinguished personal service to the monarch, members of the royal family, or to any viceroy or senior representative of the m ...

, among many other Finnish and international decorations.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Totterman, Richard Ambassadors of Finland to the United Kingdom Lawyers from Helsinki Ambassadors of Finland to Switzerland 1926 births 2020 deaths Diplomats from Helsinki University of Helsinki alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford