Elisabeth Rehn
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Märta Elisabeth Rehn (born April 6, 1935 in Helsinki, Finland) is a former MP of the Swedish People's Party and the first woman as the Minister of Defence in Finland. In the 1994 presidential elections she was narrowly defeated by Martti Ahtisaari. Elisabeth Rehn spent her childhood in Mäntsälä where her father worked as a Community Medical Doctor. Rehn went to a local school in Mäntsälä before entering to a boarding school in Grankulla (fi. Kauniainen).
Rehn received the degree of Master of Science in Economics in 1957 and has a honorary degree in political science both from Svenska handelshögskolan and Åbo Akademi. In the beginning of 1960s Rehn was known to be the first in Finland to import and market the plastic Tupperware containers.
In 1995, during Rehn's term as the Minister of Defence, a law of voluntary female conscription was enacted. In the recent years Rehn is known for her international assignments, as UN Under-Secretary General and as the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Rehn was married to Ove Rehn from 1955 until his death, and they have four children: Veronica, Joakim, Charlotta and Johan. Ove Rehn died November 8, 2004.
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