Minja Koskela

Minja Koskela
Member of the Parliament of Finland
Incumbent
Assumed office
5 April 2023
ConstituencyHelsinki
Leader of the Left Alliance
Incumbent
Assumed office
19 October 2024 (2024-10-19)
Preceded byLi Andersson
Personal details
Born
Minja Koskela

1987 (age 36–37)
Heinävesi, North Karelia, Finland
Political partyLeft Alliance
Children1
Residence(s)Herttoniemi, Helsinki, Uusimaa, Finland
Alma materSibelius Academy (MusDoc)
University of Tampere (MSSc)
ProfessionMusician, author, politician
Websiteminjakoskela.fi

Minja Koskela (born 1987) is a Finnish musician, author, politician, member of the Parliament of Finland, the national legislature, and chair of the Left Alliance. She has represented Helsinki since April 2023 as member of the Left Alliance.[1][2]

Koskela was born in 1987.[1] Her father was a policeman and her mother a dental hygienist.[3] She has three younger sisters.[3] Aged three, she joined the Päijät-Häme conservatory's play school in Lahti.[3] In the second year of high school she moved to Helsinki to study at Sibelius High School.[3] After high school she founded the Mitäs tytöt collective.[3] Koskela studied music at the Sibelius Academy and gender studies at the University of Tampere.[3] She has master's degree in social science and a doctorate in music.[1][4]

Koskela was a music teacher for five years before taking a leave of absence to write her dissertation, Democracy Through Pop? Thinking with Intersectionality in Popular Music Education in Finnish Schools (2022).[4][5] Koskela started writing her social feminist blog Bluestocking in 2015 and is the author of Ennen kaikkea feministi (2019) and Äidiksi tuleminen (2021).[3][5][6]

Koskela was asked by several parties to contest parliamentary elections but declined in order to finish her book.[6][5] She was the secretary to the Feminist Party on the City Council of Helsinki.[3] She was a political expert for the Left Alliance before becoming executive director of the Association of Finnish Music Education Schools in 2021.[6][7] She was elected to the City Council of Helsinki at the 2021 Finnish municipal elections.[4][6][8]

Koskela married film director Oskari Sipola in December 2019.[3][9] She gave birth to a daughter, Else, in 2020 after earlier suffering from a miscarriage.[3][6] The family live in the Herttoniemi suburb of Helsinki.[3] She is a member of the Team Play band.[3][10] Koskela and Sipola jointly filed for divorce in July 2024.[11]

Electoral history of Minja Koskela
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
2021 municipal[12] Helsinki Left Alliance 5,612 Elected
2023 parliamentary[13] Helsinki Left Alliance 10,112 Elected
  1. ^ a b c "MPs: Minja Koskela". Helsinki, Finland: Parliament of Finland. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ Kinnunen, Pekka; Auvinen, Pirjo (19 October 2024). "Left Alliance chooses Minja Koskela as new leader". Yle News.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Myllymäki, Laura (27 May 2022). "Rakenteet, rakenteet ja rakenteet – niistä vasemmistopoliitikko Minja Koskela puhuisi loputtomiin, mutta miltä näyttää feministinen tulevaisuus Ukrainan sodan varjossa?". Apu (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 27 May 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ^ a b c Karhu, Otso (14 June 2021). "Näin Minja Koskela voitti somevaalit ja tavoitti huolestuneen kulttuuriväen: "Häkellyttävän upea tulos"". Yle (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c "Vasemmistoliiton poliittinen asiantuntija Minja Koskela kaipaa lisää luokkapuhetta: "Eiväthän luokat ole kadonneet mihinkään"". Kansan Uutiset (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. 22 February 2020. Archived from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e Oksanen, Emmi (29 August 2021). ""Meillä on täällä näitä joka päivä", kätilö sanoi – se hetki mullisti Minja Koskelan elämän". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 6 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  7. ^ "Minja Koskela Suomen musiikkioppilaitosten liiton toiminnanjohtajaksi". Finnish News Agency (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. 22 November 2021. Archived from the original on 4 April 2023. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  8. ^ "Helsinki City Councillors". Helsinki, Finland: City Council of Helsinki. Archived from the original on 30 December 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  9. ^ Hnnila, Lilja (12 July 2024). "Minja Koskela: Avioero". Iltalehti (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 17 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  10. ^ Linkola, Hannu (26 July 2022). "Levyarvio: Tumma, yksinäinen ja kaunis kokonaisuus – Team Playn Wishes And Desires on kuin kokoelma pienoisnovelleja". Soundi (in Finnish). Tampere, Finland. Archived from the original on 13 August 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  11. ^ Pokki, Silja (12 July 2024). "Minja Koskela: Avioero!". Ilta-Sanomat (in Finnish). Helsinki, Finland. Archived from the original on 18 July 2024. Retrieved 28 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Parliamentary Elections 2023: Results - Electoral district of Helsinki - Helsinki - Elected". vaalit.fi. Helsinki, Finland: Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  13. ^ "Municipal Elections 2021: Results - Electoral district of Helsinki - Elected". vaalit.fi. Helsinki, Finland: Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 10 April 2023.