Tatu Vanhanen

Tatu Vanhanen (born April 17, 1929 in Vuoksenranta, Finland, now Ozyorskoye, Russia) is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at the University of Tampere in Tampere, Finland. Vanhanen is a co-author (with Richard Lynn) of IQ and the Wealth of Nations (2002) and IQ and Global Inequality (2006), and author of Ethnic Conflicts Explained by Ethnic Nepotism (1999) and many other works. His son, Matti Vanhanen, is a former Prime Minister of Finland.

Vanhanen developed interest in evolutionary biology after studying Edward O. Wilson's sociobiology. Most of his academic works are about democratization which he has studied with international comparative methods.^[1]

From 2002 to 2004, he was investigated for incitement of "racial hatred" by the Finnish National Bureau of Investigations.^[2] An interview he had given with a magazine, in which he contended that whites and Asians were more intelligent than blacks for evolutionary reasons and should therefore be given many of the top political and financial positions in Africa, had apparently been the object of complaint by Finland's "Ombudsman for Minorities", Mikko Puumalainen, who said he feared the former professor's remarks would boost racism. "Whereas the average IQ of Finns is 97, in Africa it is between 60 and 70. Differences in intelligence are the most significant factor in explaining poverty," Vanhanen had said. Eventually, the police dropped the investigation.

His son, former Prime Minister of Finland Matti Vanhanen, told journalists he did not intend to engage in a public debate with his father.^[3]

See also

• Ethnic nepotism (Vanhanen research topic)
• Race and intelligence

References