Heikki Koski, the first chairman of the board of the FinnAgora Foundation, has died at age 84.

A doctor in administrative science, Koski held various important positions in public life during his long career. His titles have included Mayor of Pori, Minister of the Interior, CEO of Alko, Governor of Western Finland, and Chancellor of Tampere University. In addition to this, he held numerous positions of trust.

When FinnAgora was founded in 2002, choosing then-governor Koski as the chairman was a natural, almost obvious choice. He was known as a warm friend of Hungary, who had worked for decades to build up friendship relations.

During Heikki Koski's mandate in 1973, Pori established twin city relations with Eger. This was agreed upon during the visit of Hungarian President Pál Losoncz. Heikki Koski later acted as president of the Finland-Hungary Association in 1979-88. Koski has stated that he believed that "relatives are at least as important as neighbours".

In the autumn of 1981, the Hungarian Centre for Culture and Science opened in Helsinki. This naturally raised the question of when Finland would establish its own centre in Budapest. 

Still, FinnAgora had to wait two decades for the situation to be just right for founding the institute. At the request of the Ministry of Education, the City of Turku took care of the practical arrangements. Governor Koski was elected chairman and Jaakko Rauramo, CEO of Sanoma oy, vice-chairman.

The new chairman's task was to get the Foundation up and running and, above all, to establish the FinnAgora Institute in Budapest, of which Pekka Timonen, now Mayor of Vantaa, was elected the first director. There were many difficulties in arranging the funding, as the Ministry of Finance was opposed to the idea. In 2004, FinnAgora's premises were finally inaugurated in Budapest in the presence of the Ministers of Culture of both countries. The reciprocity that had been expected for decades had finally been achieved.

Those who worked with Heikki Koski will remember him as a cultured, encouraging and unassertive but determined person who made an enormous contribution to the building of Finnish society.

FinnAgora’s Institute and Foundation remember their former chairman with warmth and sympathise with his loved ones.

 

Mikko Lohikoski

councillor, representative for the FinnAgora Foundation (2002-2023)

 

Photo: Aleksey Milov