Vuorineuvos (literally "mining counselor") (Swedish: bergsråd) is a Finnish honorary title granted by the President of Finland to leading industry figures. The title is honorary and has no responsibilities and no privileges. All Finnish titles are non-hereditary. The only title of equal rank is valtioneuvos.

There is no official or established English translation, and it is best left out. The title literally means mining counselor (c.f. German Bergrat), but it has long since lost all connection with the mining industry. It is usually erroneously translated (even in current dictionaries) as (honorary) mining counselor or even mountain counselor (or Finglish variations such as counselor of mining). Even most Finns are not aware that vuori does not mean mountain in this context.^{[citation needed]}

If it cannot be left out, it is best used untranslated as "the Finnish honorary title of vuorineuvos".^[1]

In cases in which translators are not able to convince their customers that it is best left out or at least untranslated, customers can usually be persuaded to accept the paraphrase "the highly respected industrialist X". Otherwise, a possible translation that does not ridicule the title holder would be "senior industrialist X", but this still conveys a very incorrect picture of Finnish society. "X, senior industrialist" would be a bit better.

The recipient is required to pay a stamp duty to the state that is so large (48,400 euros in 2007) that it is customarily paid by the company or other organisation that requested the title for the person receiving it. Due to the high stamp duty, the title is held by only few people, and these have had distinguished and long careers and are usually chief executive officers or chairmen of the board of major corporations. As of 2007, the title has only been held by one woman, Irja Ketonen, the principal owner and CEO of Turun Sanomat corporation.

Antti Ahlström, the founder of Ahlstrom, Jorma Ollila, the former CEO of Nokia and Pekka Herlin of KONE have refused the title out of personal preference.

List of notable persons with the title[link]

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

References[link]

1. ^ Translation Service of the Prime Minister's Office

Sami Garam (born 31 October 1967 in Helsinki) is a Finnish cook and writer of Hungarian descent.

The son of Károly and Sirkka Garam (née Saarikoski). Sami Garam's mother, Sirkka Garam, is a sister of the Finnish poet Pentti Saarikoski. Sami Garam's main profession is cooking, and he has worked as chef in many restaurants, receiving high acclaim for his food. Garam's other interest is literature, and he has written several books in Helsinki slang, including slang versions of classic Finnish novels and the first-ever Helsinki slang versions of Aku Ankka ("Donald Duck" in Finnish) and Asterix comic books.

Sami Garam has three children, two daughters (born 1991 and 1992) and a son (born 1995), and is married to Päivi Garam for over 15 years.

Bibliography[link]

• Rotsi on mut byysat puuttuu (Aku Ankka album), 2000
• Snögeli ja seittemän snadii starbuu (Snow White), WSOY 2001
• Jörde-Juge (Der Struwwelper), 2001
• Stadilainen tsöge (cookbook), WSOY 2002
• Allu Stemun Seittemän broidii (Aleksis Kivi: Seven Brothers), WSOY 2003
• Daijulastooreja (Finnish folk stories), WSOY 2004
• Kessen rehukotsa (Asterix album), 2005
• Puolialaston kokki (Donald Duck cooking book), Sanoma Magazines Finland 2005
• Pidot Ankkalinnassa (Donald Duck cooking book), Sanoma Magazines Finland 2006
• gAstronominen keittokirja (gastronomical cook book) 2008

Sources[link]

• WSOY author gallery page for Sami Garam (in Finnish)

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Hannu Erkki Johannes Koskinen (born 19 December 1954 in Janakkala, Finland) is a Finnish politician and a lawyer as profession. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland (SDP).^[1]

Koskinen has been a member of the Parliament of Finland from Tavastia Proper since 1991 and served as the Minister of Justice during two Lipponen cabinets, Jäätteenmäki cabinet and first Vanhanen cabinet from April 1999 to March 2005. He was replaced as Minister of Justice by Leena Luhtanen in a cabinet reshuffle.

He has been a member of Hämeenlinna city council 1989–2004 and again since 2009.

References[link]

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