30 Facts About Mauno Koivisto

Mauno Koivisto served as the country's prime minister twice, from 1968 to 1970 and again from 1979 to 1982.

Mauno Koivisto was the first member of the Social Democratic Party to be elected as President of Finland.

Mauno Koivisto went to Hanko to take charge of the harbour-master's office and recruit workers to break the strike, the government having banned strike action.

Together they had a daughter, Assi Mauno Koivisto, who was later voted to the electoral college during the 1982 presidential election.

Mauno Koivisto graduated from the University of Turku with a Master of Arts degree and a licentiate in 1953, and had plans to become a sociologist.

Mauno Koivisto served as Vocational Counselor for the City of Turku, and as a member of the Turku City Council.

Mauno Koivisto became the prime minister of his first government, the Mauno Koivisto I Cabinet, on 22 March 1968.

For most of the decade, Mauno Koivisto concentrated on his work as the chairman of the Bank of Finland.

At the critical moment Mauno Koivisto managed to gain the support of the SKDL.

Mauno Koivisto was thus able to call Kekkonen's bluff by refusing to tender his resignation, reminding Kekkonen that the prime minister and Cabinet were responsible to Parliament, not the president.

Mauno Koivisto was able to launch his presidential election campaign from the position.

Mauno Koivisto did not want to be elected with the support of the Soviet Union.

Mauno Koivisto won 167 of the 301 votes of the electoral college in the first round; his closest competitor, NCP candidate Harri Holkeri, received 58.

Mauno Koivisto's victory completed a long process of integrating the Social Democrats into Finland's political life, dating back to the Civil War.

One practical problem that quite a few reporters had with Mauno Koivisto's statements was their deeply pondering and philosophical nature.

Mauno Koivisto's presidency marked a deliberate shift from the strong presidential dominance of his predecessor, Urho Kekkonen, towards a more parliament-centered governance.

Mauno Koivisto supported constitutional reforms aimed at reducing presidential authority, thereby strengthening Finland's parliamentary system.

Mauno Koivisto continued the established practice of returning Soviet defectors to the Soviet Union, a custom now prohibited as a human rights violation by the Finnish constitution.

Mauno Koivisto carried on private correspondence with Gorbachev and Bush.

Mauno Koivisto's Finland recognized the new Estonian government only after the major powers had done so.

Mauno Koivisto did however covertly send money to Estonia to assist their independence movement.

Mauno Koivisto made two bold unilateral diplomatic moves that significantly changed the Finnish political position.

In 1990, after the reunification of Germany, Mauno Koivisto unilaterally renounced the terms of the Paris Peace Treaties which limited the strength and armament of the Finnish Defence Forces.

In 1990, partly motivated by nationalism, partly by the fear of the declining work force, Mauno Koivisto proposed that any Soviet citizen with either Finnish or Ingrian ancestry be enabled to immigrate to Finland as a returnee.

In 1992, Mauno Koivisto initiated the process of Finnish accession to the European community.

Mauno Koivisto was succeeded by President Martti Ahtisaari, who was a supporter of EU membership.

Subsequent to his presidency, Mauno Koivisto occasionally continued to represent Finland officially abroad, most notably at the funerals of Queen Ingrid of Denmark in 2000, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in 2002 and Ronald Reagan in 2004.

In 2009, Mauno Koivisto declined to apologize to Estonia that his administration did not support the country's independence movement.

Mauno Koivisto's health deteriorated in December 2016 due to Alzheimer's disease and his wife Tellervo started as his caregiver.

In January 2017, Mauno Koivisto fell badly at his home and broke his hand, after which he moved to a nursing home.