Ahtisaari, Martti Oiva Kalevi << AHK tee sah ree, MAHR tee OY vah KAH leh vee >> (1937-2023), was a diplomat and peacemaker who served as president of Finland from 1994 to 2000. He helped with peace efforts in various regions of Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2008, Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Committee cited “his important efforts, on several continents and over more than three decades, to resolve international conflicts.”
Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia), on June 23, 1937. He graduated from the University of Oulu in 1959. After working as a schoolteacher, he joined Finland’s foreign ministry in 1965. Ahtisaari served as ambassador to Tanzania, Mozambique, Somalia, and Zambia. He acted as United Nations (UN) commissioner for Namibia from 1977 to 1981 and helped Namibia negotiate independence in 1990. In 1993, Ahtisaari was special adviser on the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. In 1994, he was elected president of Finland. During his term, Ahtisaari led his country into the European Union and helped negotiate the end of the war in Kosovo.
After his presidency, Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative, an independent organization dedicated to peace preservation and conflict resolution. Ahtisaari helped end a 30-year conflict in Indonesia, served as an arms inspector in Northern Ireland, and worked for solutions to problems in Iraq, central Asia, and Africa. During the 2000’s, he served as a special UN envoy to help resolve Kosovo’s long-standing conflict with Serbia. Ahtisaari died on Oct. 16, 2023.
