Martti Ahtisaari life and biography

Martti Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician, the tenth President of Finland (1994-2000), Nobel Peace Prize laureate and United Nations diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work.

Martti Ahtisaari was born in Viipuri, Finland (now Vyborg, Russia), and began his career in diplomacy working as a school administrator in Pakistan, on a project co-sponsored by the YMCA and the Swedish government. He became a student activist while attending the Helsinki School of Economics and Business Administration, and then spent nearly three decades working in foreign relations, including an assignment at the UN office that shepherded Namibia to independence in the late 1980s and several years as Finnish Secretary of State. In his first and only run for elected office, he won the Finnish Presidency in 1994. During his six-year term he campaigned for acceptance of the European Union, Finland became the first Nordic nation to adopt the Euro currency, and his nation built of one of the world's most advanced telecommunications networks. In 1999, Ahtisaari and Russian envoy Viktor Chernomyrdin convinced President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia to accept a negotiated end to the conflict in Kosovo. After leaving office in 2000, Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), an independent non-profit organization that works in crisis management and conflict resolution. In 2005 Ahtisaari and CMI negotiated a settlement between Aceh rebels and the Indonesian government, ending thirty years of warfare. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008. His son, Marko Ahtisaari, was a long-time bassist for the Finnish-American rock band Afterimage, and is presently an executive with the Blyk free mobile phone network.

Actress Scarlett Johansson honored former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, for his peace making efforts at a press conference on December 11, 2008. Johansson made the statement, "It is important to remind young people that peace is the only real victory." Johansson and Michael Caine co-hosted a concert in the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize winner's honor on the evening of December 11.

Career, awards and honors:

Nobel Peace Prize 2008
Order of Australia 2002
UNESCO Peace Prize 2000
Four Freedoms Medal 2000
Fulbright Prize for International Understanding 2000
Zamenhof Prize for International Understanding 1995
Crisis Management Initiative Founder and Chairman (2000-)
UN Envoy Future Status Process for Kosovo (2005-08)
UN Envoy Horn of Africa (2003-05)
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Personal Envoy for Central Asia (2003-04)
UN Official Arms Inspector, Northern Ireland (2000)
President of Finland (1994-2000)
UN Official Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on the Former Yugoslavia (1993)
Finnish Official Secretary of State (1991-93)
UN Official Undersecretary General for Administration and Management (1987-91)
Finnish Official Undersecretary, International Development Cooperation:1984-86
UN Official Commissioner for Namibia:(1977-78)
Finnish Ambassador to Tanzania:(1973-76)
Finnish Official Deputy Director, Dept for International Development (1972-73)
Finnish Official Bureau for Technical Cooperation, Foreign Affairs Ministry (1965-72)
Swedish Official Swedish Agency for International Development Cooperation:(1961-63)
Member of the Board of Elcoteq SE
Member of the Board of Inter Press Service International Association
Member of the Board of ImagineNations Group
African Development Bank Board of Governors
American-Scandinavian Foundation Honorary Trustee
Asian Development Bank Board of Governors
Balkan Children and Youth Foundation Chairman
Club of Madrid
EastWest Institute Board of Directors
Eurasia Foundation Advisory Committee
EUSTORY Board of Directors
European Council on Foreign Relations Co-Chairman
Finnish National Opera Chairman
Inter-American Development Bank Board of Governors
International Fund for Agricultural Development Board of Governors
International Youth Foundation Global Action Council
Young Men's Christian Association Karachi, Pakistan (1959-63)
Interpeace Chairman
Northern Research Forum
Vyborg Library International Committee

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