Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died

2023-10-16 10:32:04

Martti Ahtisaariformer president of Finland and Nobel Peace Prize winner, died this Monday at the age of 86 in Helsinki after a long illness, according to the Office of the Presidency of that European country.

Ahtisaari, who recovered twice from Covid-19, had suffered from memory disorders for years and had retired from public life after a long career as a politician, diplomat and peace mediator.

The current president of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, expressed his condolences in a statement and highlighted the prominent role that Ahtisaari played in the recent history of the Nordic country.

“Martti Ahtisaari believed in humanity, civilization and goodness, and lived a great and extraordinary life. He was the president in a time of change that led Finland into the global era of the European Union,” Niinistö stated.

The Finnish flag in the media from the Presidential Castle of Helsinki, Finland, for the death of Martti Ahtisaari. Photo Lehtikuva/Roni Rekomaa/via REUTERS.

Born in 1937 in Viipuri, a Finnish gulf city that belonged to the country until 1940, the year it was annexed to the Soviet Union, Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008 for his “important efforts made on different continents and for more than three decades to resolve international conflicts,” as highlighted by the Oslo Nobel Committee.

The Finnish diplomat played a prominent role in numerous international mediationsespecially those that led to the independence of Namibia in 1990 and of Kosovo in 2008, as well as in the peace agreement between the Indonesian Government and the separatist guerrilla of Aceh in 2005.

Ahtisaari, who was President of Finland between 1994 and 2000also belonged to the so-called group “The Elders”, an international organization defending peace and human rights made up of leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter and Aung San Suu Kyi, among others.

After finishing his presidential term, Ahtisaari resigned from running for re-election and founded Crisis Mediation Initiative in 2000 (CMI), an NGO dedicated to resolving conflicts through mediation and dialogue.