Tellervo Koivisto facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tellervo Koivisto
Tellervo Koivisto in 2017.
Spouse of the President of Finland
In role 27 January 1982 – 1 March 1994
President	Mauno Koivisto
Preceded by	Sylvi Kekkonen
Succeeded by	Eeva Ahtisaari
Personal details
Born	(1929-01-02) 2 January 1929 (age 96) Punkalaidun, Finland
Spouses	Mauno Koivisto ​ ​ (m. 1952; died 2017)​
Alma mater	Turku School of Economics (1953)
Occupation	Bachelor of Economics

Taimi Tellervo Koivisto (née Kankaanranta; born 2 January 1929) is a Finnish politician. She was the First Lady of Finland from 1982 to 1994. Tellervo Koivisto is the wife of Mauno Koivisto, who was the 9th President of Finland. She also used to be a member of the Finnish parliament. She represented the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

Tellervo Koivisto's Life

Early Life and Education

Tellervo Koivisto was born on January 2, 1929. She grew up in a farming family in Punkalaidun, a town in Western Finland. After finishing primary school, she went to high school in Huittinen. She graduated from high school in 1949.

Later, Tellervo studied at the Turku School of Economics. She graduated from there in 1953. She then started working as a teacher in 1954.

Family Life

Tellervo met her future husband, Mauno Koivisto, in December 1950 in Turku. They got married on June 22, 1952. In 1957, she became a housewife after her daughter, Assi, was born. Assi later helped her father in the 1982 presidential election.

Public Service and First Lady Role

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Tellervo Koivisto was active in a group called Yhdistys 9. This group focused on women's rights. She also wrote articles for a news magazine called Suomen Kuvalehti from 1968 to 1972.

In 1972, she was elected to the Finnish parliament. She served one term there. After that, in 1976, she ran for a seat on the City Council of Helsinki.

When her husband became president, Tellervo Koivisto took on the role of First Lady. She focused more on helping with social issues and charity work. She did not focus as much on the formal duties of the First Lady.

In 2020, Tellervo Koivisto had a fall at her home. She was taken to the hospital because she broke her hip.

Gallery

• 

  Tellervo Koivisto and Mauno Koivisto in the 1950s

• 

  Tellervo Koivisto with Mauno Koivisto in Dresden, German Democratic Republic (1987)

• 

  Tellervo Koivisto and Eeva Ahtisaari in 2000

• 

  Tellervo Koivisto and Petteri Orpo in 2023

Special Recognitions

From Finland

• Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose of Finland
• Grand Cross of the Order of the Holy Lamb

From Other Countries

• Estonia: First Class of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana
• Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav
• Portugal: Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry
• Sweden: Member Grand Cross of the Royal Order of the Polar Star

Books Written

• Elämän siivellä: Päiväkirjan lehtiä, Helsinki; Kirjayhtymä, 1970.
• Päiväkirjan uudet sivut, Helsinki; Otava, 1999. ISBN: 978-951-11642-6-5