Vieno Simonen ( Vartiainen; 27 December 1898 – 20 June 1994) was a Finnish politician and farmer. A member of the Agrarian League, she represented Kuopio East in the

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

from 1948 to 1962. After serving in deputy ministerial positions in the Kekkonen IV, Törngren, and Fagerholm II cabinets, she was twice appointed as

minister of social affairs A Ministry of Social Affairs or Department of Social Affairs is the common name for a government department found in states where the government is divided into ministries or departments. While there is some variation in the responsibilities of s ...

by prime ministers V. J. Sukselainen and

Martti Miettunen Martti Juhani Miettunen (17 April 1907 – 19 January 2002), was a Finnish politician who served twice as Finland's prime minister, from 1961 to 1962 and again from 1975 to 1977. Miettunen was born in Simo, the son of a smallholder. He st ...

, and held the position from 1959 to 1962.

Early life

Vieno Vartiainen was born on 27 December 1898 in

Peräseinäjoki Peräseinäjoki is a former municipality of Finland. It was located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Southern Ostrobothnia region. The municipality had a population of 3,653 (2004) and covered an area of 459.13 km2 of ...

, Finland. She attended a girls' school until 1914 and trained at a

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

school in

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

. After training as a

postal worker A postal worker is one who works for a post office, such as a mail carrier. In the U.S., postal workers are represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers, AFL–CIO, National Postal Mail Handlers Union – NPMHU, the National Associatio ...

Pulkkila Pulkkila is a former municipality and a village located in Northern Finland. Pulkkila is the administrative center of the municipality of Siikalatva and belongs to the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The village is located south from Oulu and ...

and

Iisalmi Iisalmi (; sv, Idensalmi) is a town and municipality in the region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five t ...

, she was certified in 1921 and began working at the post office of . She became the treasurer of the

Martha organisation The Martha organisation ( Finnish: Marttaliitto, Swedish: Martharörelsen) is a Finnish organisation, founded by Lucina Hagman in 1899. The organisation defines its activities as follows: "The Martha organisation is a citizens' organisation provi ...

of Hammaslahti that year, and married farmer Oskar Simonen in 1922; they had seven children. After Oskar's death in 1938, the farm's responsibilities were assumed by Vieno, who had been the farm's hostess since their marriage. She was involved in various organizations, including

Lotta Svärd Lotta Svärd () was a Finnish voluntary auxiliary paramilitary organisation for women. Formed originally in 1918, it had a large membership undertaking volunteer social work in the 1920s and 1930s. It was formed to support the White Guard. D ...

, during the 1940s.

Political career

Simonen was elected to the

in 1948 to represent the constituency of Kuopio East (now

North Karelia North Karelia ( fi, Pohjois-Karjala; sv, Norra Karelen) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of Kainuu, North Savo, South Savo and South Karelia, as well as Russia's Republic of Karelia. It is the easternmost region of Finl ...

) as a member of the Agrarian League (now the Centre Party). She was a member of the Parliament from 22 July 1948 to 19 February 1962, and sat on various parliamentary committees, including the Education and Finance committees. Simonen was also 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 ...

. Her parliamentary work focused on providing support to women and poor families, particularly those living in rural areas. In 1953, Simonen was appointed second minister of social affairs by 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 ...

, becoming the first female government minister from a non-

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

party in Finland. She was reappointed to the same position the following year when

Ralf Törngren Ralf Johan Gustaf Törngren (1 March 1899 – 16 May 1961) was a Finnish politician, born in Oulu. He was the party leader of the Swedish People's Party (1945–1955), a member of the Finnish parliament and the Prime Minister of Finland 5 May ...

became prime minister. In 1956, prime minister

Karl-August Fagerholm Karl-August Fagerholm (31 December 1901, in Siuntio – 22 May 1984, in Helsinki) was Speaker of Parliament and three times Prime Minister of Finland (1948–50, 1956–57, and 1958–59). Fagerholm became one of the leading politicia ...

selected her as the second minister of agriculture in his second cabinet. Simonen worked on a 1957 reform of Finland's national pension system to authorize a flat-rate payments to women farmers. From 13 January 1959 to 13 April 1962, she was the minister of social affairs in the cabinets of prime ministers V. J. Sukselainen and

. As minister, Simonen continued her efforts to reform Finland's social welfare services. Simonen was a presidential elector in 1950, 1956, and 1962. She did not seek re-election to Parliament in the 1962 elections, but remained active in the Martha organisation.

Death

Simonen died on 20 June 1994 in

Pyhäselkä Pyhäselkä is a former municipality of Finland, now part of Joensuu. It seat was located in ''Hammaslahti''. Pyhäselkä is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the North Karelia region. The municipality had a population ...

, at the age of 95.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simonen, Vieno 1898 births 1994 deaths 20th-century Finnish women politicians Centre Party (Finland) politicians Finnish farmers Members of the Parliament of Finland (1948–51) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1951–54) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1954–58) Members of the Parliament of Finland (1958–62) Ministers of Social Affairs of Finland People from Seinäjoki Finnish women farmers Women government ministers of Finland Women members of the Parliament of Finland

Early life

Political career

Death

See also

References