Märta Elisabeth Rehn (; born 6 April 1935) is a Finnish former politician and diplomat. She served as the Minister of Defence of Finland during 1990 to 1995 and as an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations during 1998 to 1999. She was also a member of the Finnish Parliament and parliamentary leader of the Swedish People's Party of Finland, and a member of the European Parliament.
Early life and education
Rehn was born on 6 April 1935 in Helsinki, Finland. She spent her childhood in Mäntsälä, where her father worked as a community medical doctor. Rehn went to a local school in Mäntsälä before entering a boarding school in Kauniainen.
Rehn received a Master of Science degree in economics from Hanken School of Economics in 1957 and has honorary doctorates in political science from both Hanken School of Economics and Åbo Akademi University and an honorary doctorate in military science from the National Defence University.
In the early 1960s, she was recognized as the first person in Finland to import and market plastic Tupperware containers.
Career
Rehn was first elected as a member of parliament for Uusimaa in 1979. She was the parliamentary leader of the Swedish People's Party of Finland from 1987 to 1990.
She was appointed as Minister of Defence to the Holkeri Cabinet, succeeding Ole Norrback, in 1990. Upon her assumption of office on 13 June 1990, she became the first female defence minister of a European nation and the sixth in the world. When Esko Aho succeeded Harri Holkeri as Prime Minister of Finland in 1991, Rehn was retained as defence minister and, in addition, was appointed Minister of Equality Affairs in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.
Rehn was appointed a member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Finland during the 1995–1996 period of the Fourth European Parliament, a position established as part of the 1995 enlargement of the European Union. Her term began on 1 January 1995 and she remained in office until 10 November 1996.
Works
Personal life
Rehn was married to Ove Rehn from 1955 until his death in 2004, and they have four children: Joakim, Charlotta, Johan, and Veronica Rehn-Kivi, a member of parliament.
Rehn is a two-time cancer survivor. She recovered from colon cancer in the 1990s and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000.
Honours and awards
Honours
National honours
- : Order of the Cross of Liberty, 1st class (2002)
Foreign honours
- : Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st class (2003)
Awards
- – Gold (see Axel Olof Freudenthal), Swedish People's Party of Finland (1994)
- Honorary Doctorate in Political Science, Hanken School of Economics (1994)
- (see Fredrika Runeberg), Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (1996)
- Sibelius Medal, Lions Club Jean Sibelius in Järvenpää (2 January 1996)
- Honorary Doctorate in Political Science, Åbo Akademi University (1998)
- , Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland (2013)
- Honorary Doctorate in Military Science, National Defence University (2013)