Sakari
Tuomioja (Finland)
UNECE Executive Secretary from 1957 to 1960
Sakari Tuomioja was an economist whose career included a
period as Governor of the Bank of Finland.
He was a member of the Finnish Government
on many occasions, serving as Deputy Minister
for Foreign Affairs in 1950-1951 and Minister
for Foreign Affairs in 1951-1952. He also
represented Finland as Ambassador in London
and Stockholm.
Sakari Tuomioja was the
first Finnish senior official at the United
Nations, occupying the role of Executive
Secretary in the UN's Economic Commission
for Europe (ECE) in 1957-1960. At the same
time he also took part in the work of the
UN group involved in economic planning in
Laos, serving as the group's chairman. When
the crisis in Cyprus degenerated into armed
conflict at the start of 1964, the UN Security
Council responded by despatching peacekeeping
troops (UNFICYP) to the island. Sakari Tuomioja
acted for a short period as the first representative
of the Secretary-General, seeking a peaceful
political solution to the crisis. Unfortunately,
his involvement lasted only a matter of
months, from April 1964 until his untimely
death in August of the same year, at the
age of 50.