Anders Adlercreutz
Minister of Education and Culture, Finland
Anders Adlercreutz was born in Helsinki on 26 April 1970. He and his family now live in Kirkkonummi, his childhood hometown.
Adlercreutz completed his matriculation examination at the Swedish upper secondary school in Kirkkonummi. After graduation, his interest in building led him to study architecture. Adlercreutz completed his degree in architecture at Helsinki University of Technology (now Aalto University) in 1999.
Adlercreutz’s political career began when he was elected to the Kirkkonummi Municipal Council in 2012, and he served as Chair of the council in 2017–2023. He was first elected to Parliament in 2015. Adlercreutz served as Minister for European Affairs and Ownership Steering in Petteri Orpo's Government from 20 June 2023 to 5 July 2024.
Before serving as a Member of Parliament, he worked as an architect and as a partner in an architecture firm for nearly 20 years.
“The jump from architecture to politics was undeniably a big one. On the other hand, it’s easy to see similarities between the work of an architect and that of a politician. Both are about finding solutions and reconciling a wide range of different needs. Both require creativity and a long-term approach, and both require the ability to package your thoughts and sell them to the parties in the project again and again,” says Adlercreutz.
Adlercreutz has been a member of several committees in Parliament: the Finance Committee, the Employment and Equality Committee, the Environment Committee, the Administration Committee and the Defence Committee. He was also a member of the Finnish Delegation to the Nordic Council for the 2022–2023 term. He served as Chair of the Swedish Parliamentary Group in 2019–2023 and as Vice President of the Swedish People’s Party in 2016–2019. In 2024, Adlercreutz was elected President of the Swedish People's Party.
The Adlercreutz family is bilingual. Anders and his wife Ia have five children. His hobbies include sports, music and DIY projects. An avid windsurfer in his youth, Adlercreutz tries to make time for the sport whenever the wind permits.