Finland’s oldest person attributes long life to independence and curiosity

Eila Hukkanen, Finland’s oldest living person at 108, credits her longevity to a life of freedom, resilience, and an enduring love of travel, she told public broadcaster Yle in an interview at her home in Kouvola.

Hukkanen, who was recently named the region’s Lotta of the Year in recognition of her wartime service, described her age with dry humor: “It’s unpleasant. I’m so old that I’ll be leaving soon.” Yet she has embraced life fully, emphasizing how travel “broadens perspectives”—a passion she pursued even in later years.

Born in 1917 in Viipuri (now Vyborg, Russia), Hukkanen spent her childhood in Enso (now Svetogorsk), then part of Finland, where her father worked at the Enso-Gutzeit pulp mill. She recalled the era fondly as “a golden time”, balancing school—where she completed her ylioppilas (upper secondary) exams in 1938—with summer jobs as a swimming instructor and factory work. “There was always work to do,” she said. “If there was no paid work, you tended the garden or planted potatoes.”

When the Winter War broke out in 1939, the 21-year-old Hukkanen left her office job to join the Lotta Svärd organization, a paramilitary women’s auxiliary. She served as a field kitchen worker and later as a medical orderly, including at a hospital in Nastola. One of her most haunting memories was accompanying the body of a fallen soldier back to his family. “That was heavy,” she said simply.

After the war, widowed at 50, she returned to the workforce, securing a position at the Kymen regional government office. Her daughters, Irja Laitinen and Kaija Salminen, described her as “stubbornly independent”—a trait that defined her parenting. “She didn’t forbid us much, just as her parents hadn’t forbidden her,” Salminen said. “She has heart, not just book learning.”

Now living alone in Kouvola with support from home care and her daughters, Hukkanen fills her home with flowers, a habit inherited from her mother. She rejects the idea of giving advice: “People should live as they please. Freedom is essential.” Her only concession to age is a single blood pressure medication; otherwise, she reports no pain. “It’s easier to be old now than in my youth,” she noted. “Back then, there were no pensions. Now, at least, no one need go hungry.”

According to Statistics Finland’s April data, Hukkanen is the country’s sole 108-year-old. Two 107-year-olds and 1,312 centenarians or older currently live in Finland.