Martti Ahtisaari Biography

Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari is a Finnish politician and former President of Finland. He also worked as a U.N. diplomat and mediator and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for bringing peace to many parts of this world through negotiations and dialogue. He was born in Finland, displaced from his birthplace during childhood by Russians soldiers, moved from one place to another and finally settled in Oulu with his mother. After graduation he joined the Government of Finland and was involved in bringing conflicting nations to the negotiating table in a several countries as a representative of Finland and the United Nations. Ultimately he became the President of Finland and brought back Finland from sheer economic destruction by joining the European Union. His childhood experiences taught him that mankind can live only when peace prevails everywhere and this is what he set out to do with quite a great degree of success. Along with his native tongue Finnish, he speaks English, German, French and Swedish. He contributed to the achievement of independence for Namibia and Kosovo, worked for the United Nations in many positions and held very important positions in many international organizations.