Valtioneuvos

Valtioneuvos (Swedish: Statsråd, "Counselor of State") is a Finnish title of honor awarded by the President to elder statesmen. It is in the highest class of the titles of honor (along with vuorineuvos). The equivalent in English is honorary Privy Councillor, which was in fact called salaneuvos (Councillor of the Supreme Secret Council) in Imperial Russia.

The title has been awarded eight times in independent Finland since 1917:

• Juho Kusti Paasikivi — Senator, Prime Minister, President (1930)
• Emil Nestor Setälä — Senator, Professor (1934)
• Eero Yrjö Pehkonen — Senator, Provincial Governor (1948)
• Karl-August Fagerholm — Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament (1969)
• Martti Miettunen — Provincial Governor, Prime Minister (1977)
• Johannes Virolainen — Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament (1989)
• Harri Holkeri — Bank of Finland Chairman, Prime Minister (1998)
• Riitta Uosukainen — Minister of Education, Speaker of Parliament (2004)

Former Prime Minister Paavo Lipponen declined the honor, commenting that no one outside Finland knows what valtioneuvos is, and that he is satisfied with "former Prime Minister".

The title was awarded six times during the Grand Duchy of Finland.

• C. G. Estlander (1898)
• Jaakko Forsman (1898)
• J. R. Danielson-Kalmari (1903)
• August Ramsay (1906)
• Väinö Kivi (1916)
• Karl Snellman (1917)