Anneli Taina (born June 21, 1951) is a Finnish politician who was Minister of Defence and Minister of Housing for the Finnish Government, and then Governor of the Southern Finland Province.

Anneli Taina
Anelli Taina in 1988
Governor of the Southern Finland Province
In office
2004–2009
PresidentTarja Halonen
Prime MinisterMatti Vanhanen
Preceded byTuula Linnainmaa
Minister of Defence[1]
In office
13 April 1995 – 15 April 1999
Prime MinisterPaavo Lipponen
Preceded byJan-Erik Enestam
Succeeded byJan-Erik Enestam
Minister of Housing
In office
2 January 1995 – 13 April 1995
Prime MinisterPaavo Lipponen
Preceded byPirjo Rusanen
Succeeded byJan Vapaavuori
Member of the Finnish Parliament
In office
21 March 1987 – 23 March 1999
ConstituencyPirkanmaa
Personal details
Born (1951-06-21) 21 June 1951 (age 73)
Imatra, Finland
SpouseHeikki Taina (1972-present)

Career

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Anneli Taina was born on June 21, 1951, in Imatra, Finland, which is located on the border with Russia in the east of the country. She trained in social work, earning a Master's degree in social studies in 1975. She then worked for ten years between 1977 and 1987 as a social worker in Tampere, Southern Finland. During this time, she won a seat on the Tampere City Council, and was a school board member. as part of her council role, she sat on the Urban Planning Committee.[2]

In 1987, she successfully ran to become a Member of Parliament. Taina then set on several committees such as the Social Affairs and Health Committee, Labour, and the Grand Committee. In 1995, she was named to the Council of State as Minister of Housing, later that year being moved to become Minister of Defence.[2] This was only the second time that a woman had been named as a Minister of Defence in Finland, after Elisabeth Rehn, who held the post earlier in 1995.[3]

Taina held the position until 1999, and continued as a Member of Parliament until 1999. She then became Governor of the Southern Finland Province in 2004, a position she held until 2009, when she became Senior Vice President of the Regional Development Agency of Southern Finland until retirement in 2014.[2]

References

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  1. ^ "Council of State - Ministers of Defence". Valtioneuvosto.fi. Archived from the original on 2017-12-30. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Eläköitynyt Anneli Taina: Mielummin valistusta kuin valvontaa". Tamperelainen (in Finnish). February 26, 2015. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 12, 2017.
  3. ^ "Women in high places Defense minister: Finland's 44-year-old Anneli Taina oversees huge modernization drive". The Baltimore Sun. April 15, 1996. Retrieved November 12, 2017.