Rauli Virtanen is a renowned Finnish writer, freelance journalist, lecturer, television producer, and former foreign correspondent. Born on June 28, 1948, in Alavus, Finland, his career spans over five decades, marked by extensive travel and dedicated reporting from some of the world's most turbulent regions.
Early Life and Career Start
Virtanen grew up in Lahti and spent part of his childhood in the countryside. He developed an early interest in geography and foreign countries, inspired by stories from a Finnish sailor who lived near his grandparents. Initially considering a career as a geography teacher, he was encouraged by his Finnish language teacher to pursue journalism, allowing him to combine his passion for global affairs with storytelling.
After university studies, he traveled from Rio de Janeiro to New York in the early 1970s, where he hitchhiked part of the way and sent stories and photos to a Finnish agent for publication in provincial newspapers. This international experience led him to apply for a job at a major Helsinki newspaper's foreign desk, and he soon moved to Helsinki.
His career as a conflict journalist began in September 1972 when he successfully pitched the idea of covering the Vietnam War to his editor-in-chief. This marked the start of a 50-year career reporting from crisis areas, focusing on the victims and the causes of conflicts.
A Career in Conflict and Global Reporting
Rauli Virtanen has covered wars and conflicts since the days of Vietnam. His extensive reporting includes major events and conflicts such as the Lebanese Civil War starting in 1975/76, the Chilean military coup in 1973, the Nicaraguan Revolution, the first Gulf War (1980), and conflicts in Indonesia, the Middle East, and South Korea during its military dictatorship. He has reported on history's significant moments, including the Tiananmen demonstrations and, later in his career, the war in Ukraine.
He has worked for all the major Finnish print and electronic media, and his articles have also appeared in foreign media. His professional roles have included serving as a foreign correspondent based in New York and London and later as a roving correspondent based in Finland.
From 2015 to 2016, Virtanen served as the Visiting Professor of Journalism at the University of Tampere.
The First Person to Visit Every Country
Beyond his distinguished journalistic career, Virtanen is widely recognized as a pioneering global traveler. He is believed to be the first person in the world to have visited every country—a feat he achieved in 1988, when he had visited 170 countries, which were recognized as all the countries in the world at that time. He has since continued to travel, having visited 194 independent countries in total. His interest in travel was initially rooted in a desire to specialize in developing countries' issues, beginning with Latin America, where he studied Spanish and Portuguese.
Literary and Civic Contributions
Virtanen is the author of several non-fiction books, many of which draw on his extensive travels and field reporting. Some of his works include Latinalainen Amerikka huomisen varjossa (Latin America in the Shadow of Tomorrow, 1979) and memoirs like Saigonista Bagdadiin: Neljä vuosikymmentä ulkomaankirjeenvaihtajana (From Saigon to Baghdad: Four Decades as a Foreign Correspondent, 2009). His books also cover topics such as Finnish aid work and peacekeeping operations.
He has also produced photo exhibitions of his travels, which have been displayed in Finland, the United States, Thailand, Malaysia, and Abu Dhabi.
In terms of civic life, he was elected to the Espoo City Council in 2017 as an independent candidate on the Green Party list.
Awards and Recognition
Rauli Virtanen is the recipient of numerous high-level recognitions and top journalism awards in Finland, including:
* The State Award for Public Information (Tiedonjulkistamisen valtionpalkinto) by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture.
* The Suomen Kuvalehden journalistipalkinto (Suomen Kuvalehti's journalist award).
* The Lifetime Achievement Golden Venla Award.
* The Military Merit Medal (Sotilasansiomitali) by the Finnish Chief of Defence.
* The Inhimillinen kädenojennus -tunnustus (humane hand extension recognition) by the Finnish Red Cross.
Virtanen's work is characterized by his commitment to providing perspectives on world events that highlight the human impact of conflicts and global development.
