Irja Ketonen

Irja Ketonen (née Blomqvist; 20 June 1921 — 17 November 1988)[1] was a Finnish media executive, whose life and career has been described as 'the Cinderella story of the Finnish media sector'.[2] She is notable for being the first woman to be granted Finland's highest civilian honorary title of Vuorineuvos.[3]

Vuorineuvos

Irja Ketonen
Born
Irja Helena Blomqvist

(1921-06-20)June 20, 1921
Turku, Finland
DiedNovember 17, 1988(1988-11-17) (aged 67)
Turku, Finland
NationalityFinnish
OccupationMedia executive
Spouse(s)Arvo Ketonen, (m. 1941 — his death in 1948)

Early life

Irja Blomqvist was born to a working-class family. She began work at the age of 13, as a gofer in the Turun Sanomat newspaper offices,[1] in which role she stayed for three years, while at the same time finishing her education. Later she was promoted to clerical roles, dealing with administrative matters such as processing mail and advertising.[4] The Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief, Arvo Ketonen, saw potential in her, and among other things trusted her with the management of the newspaper's picture archive.[4]

Marriage

Arvo Ketonen's first marriage had ended in 1933, when his wife died leaving no children. In 1941, he caused controversy by marrying his employee, Irja Blomqvist, 30 years his junior.[1]

Consequently, she left her job at the newspaper, and became a homemaker. The couple had four children, born between 1942 and 1946.[4]

In 1945, Arvo Ketonen became ill, and eventually passed away in 1948, leaving his widow to look after the family business and a young family.[4]

Leadership

Upon her husband's death, and as stipulated in his will,[1] Irja Ketonen assumed management control of the Turun Sanomat operations, at first only temporarily, due to strong resistance by the company's board,[1] and with many doubting her ability to run the business due to her young age and lack of business experience,[2] but nevertheless she returned and remained on permanent full-time basis from 1955.[1]

For a woman to take the helm of a large business was highly unusual at the time,[5] yet Irja Ketonen not only successfully managed the Turun Sanomat operation, she developed the group into a sizeable and successful business, and is remembered as something of a pioneer of the industry.[5]

In 1981, Ketonen stepped back from the day-to-day running of the newspaper, and instead took on the role of President of the wider TS-Yhtymä media group, which owns Turun Sanomat as well as many other media, printing, logistics and other businesses.

Honours

In 1979, Ketonen was chosen by the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (Suomen Yrittäjät) as their 'Entrepreneur of the Year'.[6]

In 1980, she was granted by President Urho Kekkonen the honorary Finnish title of Vuorineuvos, as the first woman to receive the honour.[1]

References
  1. "Ketonen, Irja". Uppslagsverket Finland (in Swedish). Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  2. "Ketonen, Irja (1921-1988)". Kansallisbiografia (in Finnish). National Biography of Finland.
  3. "Presidentti myönsi 116 arvonimeä" (in Finnish). Yle. 12 June 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  4. "Tärkeintä on, mitä olemme saaneet aikaan" (in Finnish). Turun Sanomat. 2 January 2005. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  5. "Turun Sanomien Rahasto". SKR.fi (in Finnish). Finnish Cultural Foundation. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. "Valtakunnallisesti palkitut 1968-2003". VuodenYrittaja.fi (in Finnish).
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