Max Jakobson (September 30, 1923 – March 9, 2013) was a Finnish

diplomat A diplomat (from grc, δίπλωμα; romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state or an intergovernmental institution such as the United Nations or the European Union to conduct diplomacy with one or more other states or internati ...

and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

of Finnish-Jewish descent. Jakobson was an instrumental figure in shaping Finland's policy of

neutrality Neutral or neutrality may refer to: Mathematics and natural science Biology * Neutral organisms, in ecology, those that obey the unified neutral theory of biodiversity Chemistry and physics * Neutralization (chemistry), a chemical reaction ...

during the Cold War. Max Jakobson was born in 1923 in Viipuri,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

(now

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus n ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

), as son of Finnish-Jewish tailor Leo Jakobsson and his ethnic Finnish wife Helmi (née Virtanen). He began his career as a

. He worked at the BBC. From 1953 to 1974 he was employed by the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs eventually acting as Finland's ambassador to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

in 1965-1971 and Finland's Ambassador to Sweden in 1971−1974. Jakobson ran for

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

in the 1971 selection. He was one of three candidates to receive the required 9 votes in the Security Council, but he was vetoed by the Soviet Union. Jakobson was active as a commentator on Finnish politics, having written several books and numerous articles on Finnish political history and contemporary Finnish politics. He also acted as chairman of the Estonian International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity investigating Communist and Nazi crimes in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and t ...

.Members of the International Commission for Investigation of Crimes Against Humanity

Works

* * Englanti valinkauhassa (1952) * Diplomaattien talvisota (1955) * Kuumalla linjalla (1968) * Paasikivi Tukholmassa (1978). . * Veteen piirretty viiva (1980). . * 38. kerros (1983). . * * Vallanvaihto (1992). . * Finland in the New Europe (1998) * Väkivallan vuodet, 20. vuosisadan tilinpäätös (1999). . * Pelon ja toivon aika, 20. vuosisadan tilinpäätös (2001). (. * Tilinpäätös, 20. vuosisadan tilinpäätös (2003). . * Tulevaisuus? (2005). . * Kohtalonvuodet – Suomi nousi, taipui ja selvisi (2008). .

References

Sources

* Tarkka, Jukka: ''Max Jakobson – kansainvälinen suomalainen'' ("Max Jacobson - International Finn"). Otava, 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Jakobson, Max 1923 births 2013 deaths Finnish journalists Finnish Jews Finnish politicians 20th-century Finnish historians Diplomats from Vyborg Ambassadors of Finland to Sweden Permanent Representatives of Finland to the United Nations Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class