Pertti Kullervo Paasio (2 April 1939 – 4 April 2020) was a Finnish politician from the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

. He was born 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 ...

. Paasio participated in the municipal politics of

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

and was elected into the municipal council in 1965. Paasio became member of the Parliament in July 1975, however, he lost the seat in the 1979 parliamentary elections. In 1982 he replaced

Jacob Söderman Jacob-Magnus (Jacob) Söderman (born 19 March 1938 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 southe ...

in the Parliament and held the seat until he was elected into 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 ...

in 1996. Paasio followed the path of his father, Rafael Paasio, when he was elected to succeed

Kalevi Sorsa Taisto Kalevi Sorsa (21December 193016January 2004) was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland three times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979 and 1982–1987. At the time of his death he still held the record for most days of incumb ...

as the Chairman of the Social Democratic Party in 1987. Paasio succeeded Sorsa in the government as the

Minister of 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 foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

on 1 February 1989. However, the Social Democratic Party suffered a defeat in the 1991 parliamentary elections, which led to the resignation of Paasio as the party chairman. His daughter Heli Paasio was a member of the Parliament. He died on 4 April 2020, two days after his 81st birthday.

References

1939 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Helsinki Leaders of the Social Democratic Party of Finland Deputy prime ministers of Finland Ministers for foreign affairs of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1975–1979) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1979–1983) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1983–1987) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1987–1991) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1991–1995) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1995–1999) MEPs for Finland 1996–1999 Children of prime ministers of Finland {{Finland-MEP-stub