- Omar Muhamoud Finnish
Omar Muhamoud Finnish was a Mogadishu-based warlord.
- Alvar Aalto
Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto was a Finnish architect and designer, sometimes called the "Father of Modernism" in the Nordic countries. His work includes architecture, furniture and glassware.
- Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943, in Helsinki, Finland) is the President of Finland. She began her first term of office in 2000 and was re-elected on January 29, 2006. Her current term expires in 2012. She is the eleventh President of Finland and the first woman to hold the office. She married her long time cohabitator, Dr. Pentti Arajärvi, after she was elected President for the first term.
- Linus Torvalds
Linus Benedict Torvalds ; born December 28, 1969 in Helsinki, Finland, is a Finnish software engineer best known for initiating the development of the Linux kernel. He now acts as the project's coordinator. Linus was inspired by Minix (an operating system developed by Andrew S. Tanenbaum) to develop a capable Unix-like operating system that could be run on a PC. Linux now also runs on many other architectures.
- Matti Vanhanen
Matti Taneli Vanhanen (born November 4 1955 in Jyväskylä) is the current Prime Minister of Finland, as well as Chairman of the Centre Party. In the second half of 2006 he was President of the European Council.
- Jean Sibelius
The core of Sibelius' oeuvre is his set of seven symphonies . Like Beethoven , Sibelius used each one to develop further his own personal compositional style. These works continue to be performed frequently in the concert hall and are often recorded. In addition to the symphonies, Sibelius' best-known compositions include Finlandia , Valse Triste , the violin concerto , the Karelia Suite and The Swan of Tuonela (one of the four movements of the Lemminkainen Suite ).
- Martti Ahtisaari
Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (born June 23, 1937) is a former President of Finland (1994-2000) and a UN diplomat and mediator, noted for his international peace work. Currently he is the UN representative and mediator during the Vienna peace talks that will determine the final status of Serbia's southern province, Kosovo (which has been under UN administration since 1999). In his proposal to the UN Security Council he has recommended supervised independence for Kosovo.
- Tarja Turunen
Tarja Soile Susanna Turunen Cabuli (born August 17, 1977, in Kitee, Finland), is a Finnish singer. She is best known as the former lead singer of symphonic metal band Nightwish, which she grew to fame with after joining in 1996. She now devotes her time to her solo career, after being expelled from the band in October 2005. She married an Argentine businessman, Marcelo Cabuli, in early 2003.
- Slow
Slow (aka DJ Slow, born Vellu Maurola, 1975, Vantaa, Finland) is a Finnish DJ and music producer. His first encounters with hip hop acts such as Run-DMC, Public Enemy and Eric B & Rakim led him to pursue career in DJing. Later on he ventured into making music and remixing others tracks. Currently he's known for his smooth, yet groovy nu-jazz style as well as versatile producer of commercial music for high profile projects for advertising, TV and cinema.
- Ville Valo
Ville Hermanni Valo (born November 22, 1976) is the vocalist, songwriter and frontman of the Finnish rock band HIM. They have released five full length albums, and as of 2006, they are the first and only Finnish rock band to sell Gold in the United States.
- Heikki Kovalainen
Heikki Kovalainen is a racing driver, born October 19, 1981 in Suomussalmi, Finland. He is the second race driver for Formula 1 world champions Renault having occupied the role of third driver since 2005.
- Lackluster
Lackluster is the stage name of Esa Juhani Ruoho, who has also recorded as Esa Ruoho, Can'o'Lard (defunct), Kökö and the Köks and XLLV (defunct). Lackluster is formerly known as the chiptune musician, Distance, part of the demoscene group, The Planet of Leather Moomins (TPOLM). Esa has lived most of his life in Helsinki, Finland, but has also, since 2000, travelled to Regina, …
- Erkki Tuomioja
Erkki Sakari Tuomioja (born 1 July 1946) was the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland between 2000 and 2007. He is currently a member of the Finnish Parliament. He is regarded to be one of the most widely read politicians still active on the political stage in Finland. Tuomioja is a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland, although his political views are thought to be more to the left than the party line. He is also a member of ATTAC.
- Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo (born in Lavia, Finland on July 13, 1953) is the President and Chief Executive Officer of Nokia Corporation and Chairman of Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture between Nokia and Siemens AG.
- Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is the author of, among other works, the Moomin books.
- Esa-Pekka Salonen
Esa-Pekka Salonen (b. June 30 1958) is a prominent Finnish orchestral conductor and composer. He is currently music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic (LAP), the orchestra with which he made his US debut in 1984.
- Tuomas Holopainen
Tuomas Lauri Johannes Holopainen (born December 25, 1976, in Kitee, Finland) is the keyboardist and main songwriter in the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish. He has also played in the bands Nattvindens Gråt and Darkwoods My Betrothed. His current side project is the gothic-doom metal band For My Pain.... He currently plays in the band of Timo Rautiainen.
- Kaija Saariaho
Kaija Saariaho is a Finnish composer. Kaija Saariaho studied composition in Helsinki, Freiburg and Paris, where she has lived since 1982. Her studies and research at IRCAM have had a major influence on her music and her characteristically luxuriant and mysterious textures are often created by combining live music and electronics. Although much of her catalogue comprises chamber works, from the mid-nineties she has turned increasingly to larger forces and broader structures, …
- Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen, born October 17, 1979 in Espoo, is a Finnish Formula One racing car driver for Scuderia Ferrari. He finished runner-up in the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 2003 and 2005. He has driven for Sauber-Petronas (2001) and Team McLaren-Mercedes (2002-2006) he currently drives for Ferrari with whom is contracted until the end of the 2009 season.
- Alexander Stubb
Alexander Stubb (born on 1 April 1968 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician and Member of the European Parliament with the National Coalition Party, part of the European People's Party and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on Budgetary Control and its Committee on Constitutional Affairs. He received the second highest number of votes of any parliamentarian in the 2004 EU election (115,224 votes).
- Alexi Laiho
Alexi "Wildchild" Laiho is the guitarist of the bands Children of Bodom (where he is also the vocalist), Sinergy and Kylähullut. He has also played with Thy Serpent and Impaled Nazarene on occasion, in addition to Warmen.
- Urho Kekkonen
Urho Kaleva Kekkonen (September 3, 1900 Pielavesi - August 31, 1986 Helsinki) was a Finnish politician who served as Prime Minister of Finland (1950–1953, 1954–1956) and later as President of Finland (1956-1981). Kekkonen continued the "active neutrality" policy of President Juho Kusti Paasikivi, which came to be known as the Paasikivi-Kekkonen Line.
- Eero Saarinen
Eero Saarinen (August 20, 1910, in Kirkkonummi, Finland – September 1, 1961, Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States) was a Finnish American architect and product designer of the 20th century famous for varying his style according to the demands of the project: simple, sweeping, arching structural curves or machine-like rationalism.
- Aki Kaurismäki
Aki Olavi Kaurismäki (born April 4, 1957 in Orimattila, Finland) is a Finnish script writer and film director.
- Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg (born June 27, 1985 in Wiesbaden, Germany) is a German-Finnish Formula One race car driver for the Williams team. He won the 2005 GP2 Series for the ART team, having raced in Formula Three Euroseries previously for his father's team.
- Einojuhani Rautavaara
Einojuhani Rautavaara (born October 9, 1928) is a Finnish composer of contemporary classical music, and is probably the best-known Finnish composer of his generation.
- Paavo Lipponen
Paavo Tapio Lipponen (b. April 23, 1941) is a Finnish politician. He was Prime Minister of Finland from 1995 to 2003, and Chairman of the Finnish Social Democratic Party from 1993 to 2005. He also served as Speaker of the Parliament of Finland 2003-2007. Born in "Turtola" (subsequently renamed Pello), Paavo Lipponen spent his childhood and youth in Kuopio. Receiving his gymnasium diploma from the Lyceum of Kuopio in 1959, …
- Magnus Lindberg
Magnus Lindberg is a Finnish composer. Lindberg was born in Helsinki. He studied at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki under Einojuhani Rautavaara and Paavo Heininen, beginning with piano. He attended summer courses in Siena (with Franco Donatoni) and Darmstadt (with Brian Ferneyhough). After graduating from the Sibelius Academy in 1981 he travelled widely in Europe, attending private studies with Vinko Globokar and Gérard Grisey in Paris, …
- Jorma Ollila
Jorma Jaakko Ollila is the Chairman (1992–) and CEO of Nokia Corporation (1992–2006) and Member of the Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company (2000–), UPM-Kymmene (1997–), and Otava Books and Magazines Group Ltd. (1996–). As of June 1 2006 he became the Non-Executive Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell and Non-Executive Chairman of Nokia.
- Mikko Hirvonen
Mikko Hirvonen (born July 31, 1980) is a World Rally Championship driver from Finland. As one of the series' younger competitors he made his debut full-time in a third Ford entry in 2003, scoring one points finish. He moved to be a team-mate to 2003 champion Petter Solberg in 2004 for Subaru, but failed to impress and was again on the move for 2005. He campaigned a two-year-old Ford Focus and led one rally during the course of the year, …
- Ari Koivunen
Ari Koivunen (born June 7 1984, Kouvola) is the winner of the 2007 Finnish Idols competition. Prior to entering Idols, Koivunen won the Finnish Karaoke Championships in 2005, and placed third in the Karaoke World Championships the same year. A resident of Lahti, Koivunen breezed into the finals after winning 86% of the public vote for his rendition of Billy Joel's "Piano Man".
- Marco Hietala
Marko "Marco" Tapani Hietala is the vocalist, bassist and songwriter of the Finnish heavy metal band Tarot and bassist and the male vocalist of the Finnish symphonic metal band Nightwish and is easily noticed for his unusual facial hair. He joined the band for their 2002 album "Century Child", following the departure of previous bassist Sami Vänskä. Marco plays in Impaled Nazarene on album "Suomi Finland Perkele" (1994).
- Karita Mattila
Karita Mattila (born September 5 1960 in Somero, Finland), is a leading opera soprano. She won the first Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 1983 and graduated from the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki where she studied with Liisa Linko-Malmio. She continued her studies in London with Vera Rozsa. Mattila made her Covent Garden debut with the Royal Opera as Pamina in Mozart's "Die Zauberflote" in 1985.
- Timo Tolkki
Timo Tolkki (born March 3 1966, in Klaukkala, Finland) is the guitarist, songwriter and producer of the Finnish power metal band Stratovarius.
- Anette Olzon
Anette Olzon (married name Anette Blyckert, born on June 21, 1971) is a Swedish musician and current lead singer of Finnish symphonic power metal band Nightwish. Olzon was formerly the vocalist in the Swedish band "Alyson Avenue".
- Timo Rautiainen
Timo Aulis Rautiainen (born January 25, 1963, in Sulkava, Finland) is a Finnish heavy metal singer, guitarist and songwriter. He is best known as the singer and songwriter of Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus. He has also sung in the bands Lyijykomppania and Aku Ankkuli. His occupation is a teacher, which is quite uncommon for heavy metal musicians. In the early stages of Trio Niskalaukaus, Rautiainen was commonly represented in the main media as "The Grim Teacher", …
- Lau Nau
Lau Nau or Laura Naukkarinen, is a singer/songwriter from Finland. She is also a member of free improv and psych folk bands Kiila, Päivänsäde, the Anaksimandros, Avarus and the trio Hertta Lussu Ässä formed by fellow acid-folk singer/songwriters Islaja and Kuupuu. She's credited as playing anything from "colorful juice glasses" and "witch laugh megaphone" to "beer cans".
- Jukka-Pekka Saraste
Jukka-Pekka Saraste is a Finnish conductor. He trained as a violinist, and later studied conducting at the Sibelius Academy with Jorma Panula, in the same class as Esa-Pekka Salonen and Osmo Vänskä. With the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra (YLE), Saraste was co-principal second violinist and later an associate to Leif Segerstam. He was chief conductor of the YLE from 1987-2001, and is currently its Conductor of Honour.
- Ilkka Kanerva
Ilkka Armas Mikael Kanerva (born 28 January 1948, Lokalahti) is the current Minister for Foreign Affairs of Finland (since 2007). Kanerva is a member of the National Coalition Party. He is a master of Political Science from the University of Turku. He has been in the Finnish Parliament since 1975.
- Olli Rehn
Olli Ilmari Rehn (born 31 March 1962) is a Finnish politician, currently serving as European Commissioner for Enlargement.