Tanja Tellervo Karpela (''née'' Vienonen; ''previously'' Karpela and Saarela; born 22 August 1970) is a Finnish former politician and beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned

Miss Finland Miss Suomi (Finnish language, Finnish for ''Miss Finland'') is a national beauty pageant in Finland. The pageant was founded in 1931, where the winners were sent to Miss Universe. History The Miss Suomi was held for the first time in 1931. B ...

1991. She was a Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2011 and served in the government of

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organiza ...

from 2003 to 2007.She remains, however, most well known for her colourful personal life which has often hit the headlines in the media – a former underwear model, she is a convicted drink driver and is currently on her third marriage.

Life and career

Karpela was born in

Salo Salo or Salò may refer to: Places Finland *Salo, Finland, a town in Western Finland **Salo sub-region, a subdivision of Finland Proper and one of the Sub-regions of Finland since 2009 *An old name of Saloinen, a former municipality in Ostroboth ...

. As a

beauty queen A beauty pageant is a competition in which the contestants are judged and ranked based on various physical and mental attributes. Per its name, beauty pageants traditionally focus on judging the contestants' physical attractiveness, sometimes so ...

, she held the title of

and represented her country in the

Miss Universe 1991 Miss Universe 1991, the 40th anniversary of the Miss Universe pageant, was held on May 17, 1991 at the Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Lupita Jones of Mexico crowned by Mona Grudt of Norway. Sevent ...

. Prior to her political career, she also became famous for her work as an underwear and lingerie model. Karpela was elected to

parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

from the Electoral District of

Uusimaa Uusimaa (; , ; both lit. 'new land') is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme), and Kymenlaakso. Finland's capital and largest city, Helsinki, alo ...

in 1999, representing the Centre Party. She was appointed Minister of Culture in

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Anneli Jäätteenmäki Anneli Tuulikki Jäätteenmäki (born 11 February 1955) is a Finnish politician who was the first female and 39th List of Prime Ministers of Finland, prime minister of Finland from 17 April 2003 to 24 June 2003. From 2004 until 2019, she served ...

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in 2003. After the resignation of Jäätteenmäki, Karpela went on to serve in the same post under Prime Minister

Matti Vanhanen Matti Taneli Vanhanen (; born 4 November 1955) is a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland from 2003 to 2010. He was also Chairman of the Centre Party (Finland), Centre Party in 2006. In his earlier career, he was a journali ...

. In December 2005 Karpela received a

Big Brother Award The Big Brother Awards (BBAs) are mocking awards that recognize "the government and private sector organizations ... which have done the most to threaten personal privacy". They are named after the George Orwell character Big Brother from t ...

from the Finnish on-line civil rights organization

EFFI Electronic Frontier Finland – Effi ry (Effi) is a Finnish on-line civil rights organization founded in 2001 by Herkko Hietanen, Ville Oksanen and Mikko Välimäki. It had about 1,600 members at the end of 2014. While not formally affiliated wit ...

for proposing Internet traffic blocking software be installed in schools and libraries. She was also a supporter of the 2005 amendment to the Finnish Copyright Act and Penal Code, which has been nicknamed ''Lex Karpela'' due to her acceptance of what many perceive to be a highly controversial addition to the Finnish law. In March 2010, Karpela announced that she is no longer pursuing a parliamentary career following the 2011 parliamentary elections.

Personal life

Karpela is a convicted drunk driver and since entering politics, she has become most famous for her relationships – she has remarried twice and broken off a third, separate engagement. Karpela caused a stir in 2001 when it became public that she (a divorcée) was having a relationship with

Finance Minister A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

Sauli Niinistö Sauli Väinämö Niinistö (, born 24 August 1948) is a Finnish politician who served as the 12th president of Finland from 2012 to 2024. A lawyer by education, Niinistö was Chairman of the National Coalition Party (NCP) from 1994 to 2001, Mini ...

(a widower). Karpela's Centre Party was in opposition and Niinistö was considered the second-most influential man in government. Under close press scrutiny ever since, in 2003 Karpela and Niinistö announced their engagement. They broke off their engagement in 2004. On 21 May 2006, Karpela married film director

Olli Saarela Olli Juhani Saarela (born 16 March 1965) is a Finnish film director. He has directed films such as ''Ambush (1999 film), Ambush'', ''Bad Luck Love'', ''Rollo and the Woods Sprite'' and ''Year of the Wolf (film), Year of the Wolf'', which is based ...

, and took her new husband's surname. She filed for divorce from Olli Saarela in November 2007, and on 22 February 2008 she changed her name back to Karpela. Karpela has two children (born 1995 and 1998) from her previous marriage to Totti Karpela and one (born 2009) from her third marriage to Janne Erjola.

Honours

* Belgium: Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown (2004)Tanja Karpela wearing the Order of the Crown.
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References

External links

Personal home page
(in Finnish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Karpela, Tanja 1970 births Living people People from Salo, Finland Centre Party (Finland) politicians Ministers of education of Finland Members of the Parliament of Finland (1999–2003) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2003–2007) Members of the Parliament of Finland (2007–2011) 21st-century Finnish women politicians Miss Finland winners Miss Universe 1991 contestants Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland Beauty queen-politicians 20th-century Finnish women politicians