Hilkka Pietilä

Hilkka Pietilä was born in 1931 in Kiikka, Finland, where her family lived on a small farm.^[1][2][3]

In 1950, she began studying at the University of Helsinki, where she would graduate with a master's in agriculture and forestry, with a focus on household sciences, in 1956.^[1][2][3]

Pietilä first became involved in the Finnish UN Association [fi] in the late 1950s.^[2] Beginning in 1963, she led the organization as secretary-general for 27 years.^[1][2][4] She was also a longtime board member and honorary chair of the World Federation of United Nations Associations.^[1]

During her long involvement in the United Nations system, she was particularly active on efforts to improve the status of women.^[1][2] She was considered "one of the fore-mothers of ecofeminism."^[2]

Pietilä wrote about women's rights, peace, and development.^[1] As an economist, she argued that analyses of economic output left out the value of household labor and discounted women's contributions.^[2] In 1981, alongside fellow economist Kyösti Pulliainen [fi], she published a three-tiered theory of the economy that centered on the home in Suomen Kuvalehti.^[2][5] Her books include Making Women Matter: The Role of the United Nations.^[2]

In 1966, 1970, and 1983, Pietilä ran three unsuccessful campaigns for a seat representing Helsinki in the Finnish Parliament, as a member of the Centre Party.^[1][2] After the 1983 election, she felt herself moving away from the Centre Party and chose to leave party politics entirely.^[2] Domestically, she opposed her country's accession to the European Union.^[1][2]

After leaving the Finnish UN Association in 1990, she worked as an independent researcher and activist.^[1]

Pietilä died in Helsinki in 2016, at age 85.^[1][3][6] A fund named in her honor, established by the Finnish UN Association in 2014, offers grants for UN-related research.^[1]