Koivisto, Mauno Henrik

Related Category: Scandinavian History: Biographies

1923–, Finnish politician. He was director of the Helsinki Workers' Savings Bank (1959–68) and then governor of the Bank of Finland (1968–82). As a Social Democrat he served as minister of finance (1966–67, 1972). He was prime minister (1968–70, 1979–80) in center–left coalition governments. In 1981 he became interim president, taking over from the incapacitated Urho Kekkonen. He was elected president in 1982, resigning all party posts, and was reelected in 1988. He continued Kekkonen's foreign policy of neutrality and closeness with the USSR.