Karjalainen, Ahti

Born Feb. 10, 1923, in the town of Hirvensalmi. Finnish statesman and politician; son of a landowner.

Karjalainen graduated from the faculty of political science of the University of Helsinki in 1946 and received a degree ofdoctor of political science in 1959. In 1946 he joined theAgrarian Union (called the Center Party since 1965) and was itsinformation secretary from 1947 to 1950. Karjalainen wasfinance minister from 1957 to 1958, trade and industry ministerfrom 1959 to 1961, and foreign minister from 1961 to 1962.From 1964 to 1970 and since September 1972, he has beenminister of foreign affairs and deputy prime minister. He wasprime minister in 1962–63 and 1970–71. He has been a represen-tative of the Center Party in Parliament since 1966. Karjalainenis a supporter of Finland’s peace-oriented foreign policy, the“Paasikivi-Kekkonen line.”