Anna Silvia Modig (born 8 July 1976) is a Finnish politician; and a former journalist, and radio and TV host. She was a member of 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 ...

2011–2019, representing the Left Alliance, and was elected to 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 2019. Modig is also a member of the

Helsinki City Council The City Council of Helsinki ( , ) is the main decision-making organ in the local politics of Helsinki, Finland. The City Council deals with issues such as city planning, schools, health care, and public transport. The 85-seat Council's members ...

Career

Modig belongs to the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland. She was raised in the eastern suburbs of Helsinki. Modig started her television career at the age of 18 working for the

Yle Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

Children and Youth. Her latest TV show was

YLE Teema Yle Teema was a Finnish television channel owned and operated by Finnish public broadcasting company Yle. The channel was dedicated to culture, science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of ...

's talk show ''Popkult''. Modig was elected to the

by 895 votes in the 2008 municipal elections as an independent candidate on the Left Alliance list. Modig was elected to the parliament in the 2011 elections, and re-elected in the

2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...

. She was left out of the parliament in the

2019 elections The following elections were scheduled to occur in 2019. The International Foundation for Electoral Systems has a calendar of upcoming elections around the world, and the National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections in cou ...

, but was elected to the European Parliament in the

2019 European Parliament election The 2019 European Parliament election was held in the European Union (EU) between 23 and 26 May 2019. It was the ninth parliamentary election since the first direct elections in 1979. A total of 751 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) we ...

with 51,608 votes nationwide as the only representative of the Left Alliance.

Personal life

Modig is openly

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

and is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

. She was in a

registered partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, primarily created to provide legal recognition for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage, with chi ...

with a Finnish artist and writer

Rakel Liekki Tiina-Rakel Liekki (born 20 September 1979) is a Finnish artist, freelance journalist, writer, director and producer, and former pornographic actress. Career Liekki was born in Suonenjoki. She is one of the best-known Finnish adult filmmakers, a ...

, but they broke up in October 2011. In June 2019, she married her partner Meri Valkama, who is the Communications Manager and Group Secretary of the Left Alliance Helsinki District. In 2023, Modig competed on ''

Amazing Race Suomi ''Amazing Race'' ( ) is a Finnish reality competition show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race''. Hosted by Heikki Paasonen and following the premise of other versions in the ''Amazing Race'' franchise, the show follows tea ...

'' with Aino-Kaisa Pekonen. The two were eliminated in the second episode in

Phuket Phuket (; , , or ''Tongkah'') is one of the Southern Thailand, southern Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. It consists of the island of Phuket, List of islands of Thailand, the country's largest island, and another 3 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Modig, Silvia 1976 births Living people Politicians from Helsinki Swedish-speaking Finns Left Alliance (Finland) politicians Members of the Parliament of Finland (2011–2015) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2015–2019) Finnish LGBTQ journalists Finnish LGBTQ broadcasters Finnish lesbian politicians Finnish lesbian entertainers Finnish lesbian writers Lesbian journalists LGBTQ MEPs for Finland 21st-century Finnish women politicians 21st-century Finnish women writers 21st-century Finnish journalists 21st-century Finnish LGBTQ people Women members of the Parliament of Finland MEPs for Finland 2019–2024 Finnish women journalists The Amazing Race contestants