Tarja Kaarina Halonen

President of the Republic of Finland 1.3.2000 -

Born December 24, 1943
Married, one daughter, born 1978

Master of Laws, University of Helsinki, 1968

Member of the Finnish Social Democratic Party 1971-2000  

Minister for Foreign Affairs 1995-2000
Minister of Justice 1990-1991
Minister for Nordic Cooperation 1989-1991
Minister at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health 1987-1990

Member of Parliament 1979 - 2000
Chairman of the Parliamentary Grand Committee 1995 – 1995
Chairman of the Parliamentary Law Committee 1991 – 1994
Chairman of the Parliamentary Social Affairs Committee 1984 – 1986 

Member of the Helsinki City Council 1977-1996

Prime Minister's parliamentary secretary 1974-1975
Lawyer with the Central Organization of Finnish Trade Unions SAK 1970-1974 and 1975-1979
Social Affairs Secretary and General Secretary of the National Union of Finnish Students 1969-1970

Honorary positions

• Co-chair of the "Panel of Eminent Persons" of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2011-
• Co-Chair of the UN High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, 2010-
• Chair of the Council of Women World Leaders, 2009-
• The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Member of the Board of Trustees, 2009-
• Member of the "Panel of Eminent Persons" of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 2005-2006
• World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization (ILO), Co-Chair, 2002-2004

The Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights, Member of the Board, 2006-2009
Member of the Representative Body of the Cooperative Retail Company Elanto since 1975, Member of the Supervisory Board 1980-96
Member of the Board of Directors of the International Solidarity Foundation
Chairman of the TNL Theatre Organization.

Honorary degrees

Kazan Federal University, Tatarstan, Russia, 2010
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Philosophy, 2010
Theatre Academy Helsinki, 2009
Umeå University, 2009
University of Minnesota Duluth, 2008
Helsinki University of Technology, 2008
State University of Yerevan, Armenia, 2005
University of Tartu, Estonia, 2004
University of Bluefiels, Nicaragua, 2004
University of Turku, Faculty of Law, 2003
Finlandia University, USA, 2003
Chinese Academy of Forestry, Beijing, 2002
ELTE University, Hungary, 2002
University of Kent, U.K., 2002
Ewha Womans University, Republic of Korea, 2002
Helsinki School of Economics, 2001
University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law, 2000

Interests

Her interests include the history of art and she enjoys drawing and painting. Among her other interests are theatre and sports.

President's e-mail address is: president@tpk.fi