Maria Guzenina
Encyclopedia
Maria Guzenina-Richardson (née Stieren, previously Lindell; born 12 January 1969 in Helsinki
Helsinki
Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

) is a Finnish politician who became a household name in Finland after working as a VJ for MTV Europe from 1994 until 1997. Guzenina-Richardson was elected to the Parliament of Finland in 2007 and in 2011. She was appointed Minister of Health and Social Services on 22 June 2011. Guzenina-Richardson is a high school graduate.

After MTV

Guzenina worked as a radio journalist in the now defunct Radio Aino and Yle Q, which were both AOR radio stations targeted at the thirtysomething and fortysomething crowds. On radio, she could be heard co-hosting a programme with a man about the pitfalls of relationships for couples. Guzenina wrote a book together with Seppo Pietikäinen on the subject, entitled Parisuhteen käsikirja ('A manual for relationships') and published in 2005.

Her later career has involved politics within the ranks of the Social Democratic Party of Finland
Social Democratic Party of Finland
The Social Democratic Party of Finland is one of the three major political parties in Finland, along with the Centre Party and the National Coalition Party. Jutta Urpilainen is the current SDP leader. The party has been in the Finnish government cabinet for long periods and has set many...

 (abbreviated SDP). Her political agenda centers on families, childcare and social services.

She has been elected a member of the Espoo
Espoo
Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....

 municipal council and Member of Parliament in the spring elections of 2007
Finnish parliamentary election, 2007
The Finnish parliamentary election of 2007 was the 35th election to the Eduskunta , held on 18 March 2007 after the termination of the previous parliamentary term. Early voting was possible from the 7–13 March. Two hundred MPs were elected from 15 constituencies.Election themes included a reduction...

. She gained 12578 votes, 10th most in the country. In June 2008 Guzenina-Richardson was elected as the second deputy chairman of the SDP. She was re-elected to the parliament in 2011 with 14581 votes and appointed Minister of Health and Social Services (the second minister position in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health) in the government of Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen.

Private life

Marriage to Briton Mark Richardson
Mark Richardson (musician)
Mark Richardson is an English drummer, of the UK rock band Skunk Anansie and formerly of Little Angels and Feeder.-Personal life:...

, the drummer of Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie
Skunk Anansie is an English rock band whose members include Skin , Cass , Ace and Mark Richardson .Skunk Anansie formed in March 1994, disbanded in 2001 and reformed in 2009...

 fame, ended in 2001 due to the spouse's alleged infidelity. Custody of their joint child was entrusted to Guzenina, who allows paternal visits.

Guzenina has given several interviews in Finland making comments about her troubled teenage in a dysfunctional family
Dysfunctional family
A dysfunctional family is a family in which conflict, misbehavior, and often abuse on the part of individual members occur continually and regularly, leading other members to accommodate such actions. Children sometimes grow up in such families with the understanding that such an arrangement is...

.

Trivia

Her surname Guzenina comes from her maternal, partly Russian side.

Before she became MTV VJ, she hosted an advertising campaign (1994–1995) about study and job prospects in Europe with an educational rather than entertaining emphasis.

In late 2006 Guzenina asked the police to investigate Wikipedia for alleged smears on her character and misrepresentation in case a crime might have been committed against her, but the police declined to proceed with an investigation since they could find no law on the books to fit the vague allegation expressed by her.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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