Kalevi Sorsa

Who was Kalevi Sorsa?

Taisto Kalevi Sorsa was a Finnish politician who was Prime Minister of Finland four times: 1972–1975, 1977–1979, 1982–1983 and 1983–1987 and at the date of his death still held the Finnish record of most days of incumbency as prime minister. He was also a long-time leader of the Social Democratic Party of Finland.

Kalevi Sorsa went to school in Jyväskylä and Lappeenranta. Sorsa started participating in SDP politics in Lappeenranta 1948. In 1969, Sorsa was brought in from relative obscurity by Rafael Paasio to assume the influential post of party secretary without much previous experience of national politics.

Before his political career Sorsa worked for UNESCO in Paris 1959–1965, and was Secretary-General of Finnish UNESCO board 1965–1969, and official in the Ministry of Education 1967–1969.