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Marjut Vehkanen

Marjut Helena Vehkanen
Born February 2, 1947, Kuopio

PhD 2015 (public defence of thesis 24 October 2015), University of Helsinki (Finnish language)
Doctoral dissertation Kieliopista kommunikaatioon. Suomi toisena ja vieraana kielenä -oppikirjat vuosina 1866–1953 (‘From grammar to communication. Textbooks for Finnish as a second and foreign language in the years 1866–1953’)
Master of Arts 1973, University of Tampere (Finnish Language, Finnish History)

Studies in Germany and Hungary:
Goethe University Frankfurt, 1971–73
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1975–77
Secretary General 2007–15, CIMO, Unit for Finnish Culture and Language

Editor in chief of the newspaper Aikuisten yliopisto 2000-07
Planner, project manager, training manager and deputy director 1994–2007, University of Helsinki, Vantaa Institute for Continuing Education (Luxembourg, European Parliament 1995, language training for translators; EU Commission training for interpreters 1997–98, 2004–05; continuing education for teachers of Finnish as a second language, 1994–2002)
Teacher of Finnish as a second language 1991–94, University of Helsinki Language Centre
Director and teacher of Helsinki Finnish language and culture summer courses, and teacher of a Finnish as a second language summer course for Nordic teachers and public officials 1990–96, Ministry for Education
Lecturer in Finnish Language and culture 1983–87, Moscow State University
Comprehensive and upper-secondary school teacher in Finland 1979–83
Foreign affairs Secretary 1973–74, OAJ (Trade Union of Education in Finland)

Awards and honours:
OJA Bronze Medal with silver sprig, 1996
OJA Bronze Medal, 1995
Honorary member of Suomi toisena kielenä -opettajat ry (‘Association of teachers of Finnish as a second language’) 2015

Positions of responsibility:
Board member 1993-96, chairman 1993–96, Ulkomaanlehtoriyhdistys ry (‘Association of foreign lecturers’).
Deputy board member 1993–1996, Yliopistolehtoriliitto ry (‘Union of University Lecturers’)
Deputy member of the Higher Education Council of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) 1998–2004
Board member 1998–2004, Parent Council of the Finnish Russian School
Member of the Board of Directors 1999–2004, Finnish-Russian School
Deputy board member of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East 2004–15
President 2013–25, past president 2015–16, Inner Wheel Finland

Photo: Sasa Tkalcan
Written by Marjut Vehkanen (Kaija Hartikainen, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

“Ambassador” for Finnish Language and Culture

The ten years I spent living abroad in three large European cities as a result of my spouse’s work assignments sealed my mission in life: making Finnish language and culture known in foreign universities, and developing and protecting Finnish language education in various parts of the world. My time as lecturer in Finnish Language and Culture in the 1980s at one of the largest universities in the world—the MGU (Moskovski Gosudarstvennyi Universitet, the Moscow State University)—gave a new direction to my career as a teacher of Finnish and history, and there was no turning back. It seems clear that my humanistic worldview was apparently not undermined by my childhood, full of classical music and literature as it was, as well as being an environment where temperaments were allowed to flare and feelings brought out into the open. The attitudes and backgrounds of my parents (my father was a doctor, my mother worked at the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat) fostered the free exchange of opinions and tackling questions related to humanistic values.

At the airport, en route to the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2014.

 

By

Marjut Vehkanen

Marjut Helena Vehkanen
Born February 2, 1947, Kuopio

PhD 2015 (public defence of thesis 24 October 2015), University of Helsinki (Finnish language)
Doctoral dissertation Kieliopista kommunikaatioon. Suomi toisena ja vieraana kielenä -oppikirjat vuosina 1866–1953 (‘From grammar to communication. Textbooks for Finnish as a second and foreign language in the years 1866–1953’)
Master of Arts 1973, University of Tampere (Finnish Language, Finnish History)

Studies in Germany and Hungary:
Goethe University Frankfurt, 1971–73
Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest 1975–77
Secretary General 2007–15, CIMO, Unit for Finnish Culture and Language

Editor in chief of the newspaper Aikuisten yliopisto 2000-07
Planner, project manager, training manager and deputy director 1994–2007, University of Helsinki, Vantaa Institute for Continuing Education (Luxembourg, European Parliament 1995, language training for translators; EU Commission training for interpreters 1997–98, 2004–05; continuing education for teachers of Finnish as a second language, 1994–2002)
Teacher of Finnish as a second language 1991–94, University of Helsinki Language Centre
Director and teacher of Helsinki Finnish language and culture summer courses, and teacher of a Finnish as a second language summer course for Nordic teachers and public officials 1990–96, Ministry for Education
Lecturer in Finnish Language and culture 1983–87, Moscow State University
Comprehensive and upper-secondary school teacher in Finland 1979–83
Foreign affairs Secretary 1973–74, OAJ (Trade Union of Education in Finland)

Awards and honours:
OJA Bronze Medal with silver sprig, 1996
OJA Bronze Medal, 1995
Honorary member of Suomi toisena kielenä -opettajat ry (‘Association of teachers of Finnish as a second language’) 2015

Positions of responsibility:
Board member 1993-96, chairman 1993–96, Ulkomaanlehtoriyhdistys ry (‘Association of foreign lecturers’).
Deputy board member 1993–1996, Yliopistolehtoriliitto ry (‘Union of University Lecturers’)
Deputy member of the Higher Education Council of the Trade Union of Education in Finland (OAJ) 1998–2004
Board member 1998–2004, Parent Council of the Finnish Russian School
Member of the Board of Directors 1999–2004, Finnish-Russian School
Deputy board member of the Finnish Institute in the Middle East 2004–15
President 2013–25, past president 2015–16, Inner Wheel Finland

Photo: Sasa Tkalcan
Written by Marjut Vehkanen (Kaija Hartikainen, ed.)
Translated by Matthew Billington

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