Kerttu Saalasti ( Kallio; 21 September 1907 – 31 January 1995) was a Finnish politician who was the Finland Minister of Education from 1954 to 1956 and from May 1957 to November 1957. She was the first female Minister of Education in Finland, and introduced the legislation that established the

University of Oulu The University of Oulu () is one of the largest universities in Finland, located in the city of Oulu. It was founded on July 8, 1958. The university has around 14,200 students and 3,800 staff. 21 International Master's Programmes are offer ...

. A member of the Agrarian League, Saalasti also represented

Oulu Oulu ( , ; ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of North Ostrobothnia. It is located on the northwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Oulujoki, River Oulu. The population of Oulu is approximately , while the Oulu sub-regio ...

in the

Parliament of Finland The Parliament of Finland ( ; ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral and Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme legislature of Finland, founded on 9 May 1906. In accordance with the Constitution of Finland, sovereignty belongs to the people, and that ...

from 1948 to 1962 and from 1966 to 1970.

Early life and education

Kerttu Kallio was born on 21 September 1907 in

Nivala Nivala (formerly known as ''Pidisjärvi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Northern Ostrobothnia region. The town has a population of () and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . The muni ...

, Finland. She was the daughter of

Kyösti Kallio Kyösti Kallio (, 10 April 1873 – 19 December 1940) was a Finnish politician who served as the fourth president of Finland from 1937 to 1940. His presidency included leading the country through the Winter War; while he relinquished the post ...

, who was later elected as the fourth

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 ...

in 1937, and Kaisa Nivala. After graduating from secondary school in

in 1927, she attended 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 ...

, where she received a bachelor's degree in agriculture and forestry in 1935 and the

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in agriculture in 1936. Kallio became the hostess of a farm in Nivala in 1936 after marrying Filip Teuvo Saalasti, the son of Finnish politician Filip Saalasti; they had five children. She taught agriculture at the local

folk high school Folk high schools (also ''adult education center'') are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal. They are most commonly found in Nordic countries and i ...

, and was elected to the municipal council of Nivala in 1937 as the only female member of the council. After Filip died of

lung disease The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in many animals, including humans. In mammals and most other tetrapods, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of the heart. Their function in the respiratory syst ...

on 9 June 1947, Kerttu took over the farm's responsibilities.

Political career

Saalasti was elected to the

in 1948 to represent the Oulu constituency as a member of the Agrarian League (now the Centre Party). She was a member of Parliament from 22 July 1948 to 19 February 1962, and again from 5 April 1966 to 22 March 1970. During her time in Parliament, Saalasti was a member of the Education and Culture committee and a Finnish representative to the

Nordic Council The Nordic Council is the official body for formal inter-parliamentary Nordic cooperation among the Nordic countries. Formed in 1952, it has 87 representatives from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden as well as from the autonomo ...

. She was a presidential elector in 1950, 1956, 1962, and 1968. She frequently focused on agricultural and rural issues, supported the

temperance movement The temperance movement is a social movement promoting Temperance (virtue), temperance or total abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and ...

in Finland, and advocated for a greater role for women in Finnish politics. Prime minister

Urho Kekkonen Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (; 3 September 1900 – 31 August 1986), often referred to by his initials UKK, was a Finnish politician who served as the eighth and longest-serving president of Finland from 1956 to 1982. He also served as Prime Minister ...

appointed Saalasti as

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

on 20 October 1954. She held the position in Kekkonen's fifth cabinet until

Karl-August Fagerholm Karl-August Fagerholm (31 December 1901, in Siuntio – 22 May 1984, in Helsinki) was a Finnish politician. Fagerholm served as Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland (1948–50, 1956–57, and 1958–59). Fa ...

took office as prime minister on 3 March 1956. She was the first female Minister of Education of Finland, and was later re-appointed to the position by prime minister V. J. Sukselainen from 27 May 1957 to 29 November 1957. As education minister, Saalasti introduced the legislation that led to the establishment of the

. The bill, which was signed into law by President Kekkonen on 25 October 1957, has been described as the highlight of Saalasti's political career, one of her most significant achievements, and a "significant national policy action". She also worked on government reforms of primary schools and higher education in Finland, and campaigned for

educational equity Educational equity, also known as equity in education, is a measure of equity in education. Educational equity depends on two main factors. The first is distributive justice, which implies that factors specific to one's personal conditions should ...

Later life and death

Saalasti was awarded the title of ''Opetusneuvos'' (Councillor of Education) by Kekkonen in 1969, and received an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Oulu in 1972. She authored a biography of her parents, titled ''Anna hänelle nöyrä mieli: Kaisa ja Kyösti Kallion elämäntieltä'', published in 1972. She also contributed to the establishment of the Kyösti and Kalervo Kallio Museum in Nivala. She died on 31 January 1995 in Nivala, at the age of 87. In 2017, the Oulu Southern Institute of the University of Oulu was renamed the Kerttu Saalasti Institute in her honor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saalasti, Kerttu 1907 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Finnish women politicians Centre Party (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (1948–1951) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1951–1954) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1954–1958) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1958–1962) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1966–1970) Ministers of education of Finland People associated with the University of Oulu People from Nivala University of Helsinki alumni Finnish women farmers Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland Children of presidents of Finland Children of prime ministers of Finland 20th-century Finnish farmers 20th-century women farmers

Early life and education

Political career

Later life and death

See also

References