Martti Ahtisaari, former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has passed away

Published on Monday, 16th of October 2023

Photo Tuukka Koski

Former Finnish president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martti Ahtisaari has passed away in Helsinki on 16.10.2023. He was 86 years old.

Martti Ahtisaari was President of the Republic of Finland from 1994 to 2000. Prior to that he had a distinguished career at the United Nations and the Finnish Foreign Ministry.

In 2000, Ahtisaari founded the Crisis Management Initiative (CMI), an independent non-governmental organisation, to continue his legacy of conflict resolution. CMI is today known as CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation.

Martti Ahtisaari can be considered the most successful peace mediator of all times. For almost nearly four decades he worked hard to prevent andresolve conflicts throughout the world. In 2008, Ahtisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifework as a peace mediator.

CMI – Martti Ahtisaari Peace Foundation is deeply saddened by the loss of its founder and Chair of Board (2000–2017)

“The world has lost a truly exceptional person who devoted his life to peace. Martti Ahtisaari strongly believed that peace is a question of will and that all conflicts can be resolved, always seeing opportunities where others saw problems. Perhaps now more than ever, the world needs people like him”, says Alexander Stubb, CMI’s Chair of the Board. 

Ahtisaari will be laid to rest in a state funeral. The date of the funeral will be announced at a later date.