Valkonen, Tapani

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5Yearbookof Population Research in Finland 39 (2003),pp. 5-9Väinö Kannisto: Career and ScholarlyWorkTAPANIVALKONEN, Ph.D., Professorin DemographyPopulation Research Unit, Department of Sociology,University of Helsinki, FinlandDr.Väinö Kannisto, the grand old man ofFinnish demog-raphy,<liedunexpectedlyonFebruary l 6th, 2002 in Lisbonat the age of 85. He was bom in Helsinki on September24th, 1916.Väinö Kannisto's father, Artturi Kannisto, was a profes-sor of Fenno-ugric philology.Väinö was not attracted tothe humanities, but chose economicsand statistics instead.He received his M.A. degree from the University ofHelsinkiin 1938 and started his work career as an assis-tant actuary at the Division of Population Statistics of theCentral Statistical Office of Finland in 1939. This appointment lasted until 1945, butduring most of this period Kannisto served in the army during both of the wars whichFinland föught against the SovietUnion, theWinterWar in 1939 - 40 and the Continu-ation War, in 1941 - 44. He held the military rank of lieutenant at the end of the war.During the ContinuationWar Kannisto served as an officer in the troops occupyingEastem Karelia, the Soviet territory east of the Finnish border. In 1942 he organizedthe collection of data för a study he planned would become his Ph.D. thesis. Teachersand ambulatory nurses interviewed ethnic Finnish women living in the area. The in-terviews covered the marital histories of the women and the dates of births and pos-sible deaths of all the children ever bom to them. The total number of interviews wasmore than 5,500.Kannisto did not use the Karelian data för his doctoral dissertation. The data collectedfrom the Russian territory temporarily occupied by Finland were politically sensitive.According to Kannisto there was also another reason not to use the data: his professorconsidered the data too unreliable because they were not based on official documents.Kannisto donatedthe data to the Department of Sociologyat the UniversityofHelsinkiin the 1980s. Through an initiative taken by Dr. Veijo Notkola the material was6computerized. Riikka Shemeikka and students attending her research seminar ana-lyzed the data and prepared a mimeographed report in 1996 (Raitis &Ahola, 1996).Soon after the war, in 1947, Kannisto eamed his Ph.D. degree from the University ofHelsinki. The title ofthe thesis was The Causes af Death as Demographical Factorsin Finland (in Finnish with a summary in English). The quality ofthe Finnish mortal-ity statistics had improved essentially in 1936, when the entire system of data collec-tion was remodeled and a new cause of death classification was adopted. Kannistoestimated the contribution of different causes of death to the mortality of men andwomen and analyzed regional differences in mortality by cause of death. The regionalanalysis revealed that mortality from heart diseases was higher in Eastem than West-em Finland. These findings led to an extensive "East-West study" on the causes ofheart diseases in the 1950s (Karvonen & al. 1970). This study was important för thedevelopment ofthe Finnish epidemiological research tradition and later gave impetusto the world-famous North Karelia project för the prevention of heart diseases.Kannisto pursued post-doctoral studies in bio-statistics at the Johns Hopkins Schoolof Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore in 1947 - 48 and in advanced economicstatistics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1948 - 49. He worked asa statistical expert för the World Health Organization from 1949 to 1955. In 1956 heretumed to Finland, albeit för one year only, acting as the director of the generaldivision ofthe Central Statistical Office. During the long period from 1957 to 1982Kannisto worked as a United Nations expert and interregional advisor in demographicand social statistics. He carried out more than 200 missions in almost 100 countries.In 1982 - 90, after his retirement, he undertook about 30 planning, advisory and evalu-ation missions on behalf of several United Nations organizations. After these mis-sions had been concluded Dr. and Mrs. Kannisto moved to Lisbon, where Mrs. Kannistohad spent her childhood.In the l 980s Kannisto resumed his demographic research work on mortality, whichhad been suspended since the l 940s. He worked on his research projects almost fulltime up to his death. Since 1989 he had been affiliated with the project on maximallength of life in the Cambridge Group för the History of Population and, since 1992,he had been a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Odense University Medical Schoolin Denmark.Kannisto started his new career in mortality research with an article titled Focus onAdult Mortality published in the Yearbook of Population Research in Finland in 1986and with two reports on geographic differences in infant mortality in the same year(see the list of publications below). These publications were föllowed by several articlesin major international demographic journals and two path-breaking books(Development af Oldest-Old Mortality, 1950 - 1990: Evidence from 28 DevelopedCountries and The Advancing Frontier af Survival, published in 1994 and 1996,7respectively). Kannisto co-authored the book The Force of Mortality at Ages 80 to120with Roger Thatcher as well as two books published by Statistics Finland (RevisedLife Tablesfor Finland 1881 - 1990 with Mauri Nieminen and Abridged Life Tablesfor Finland 1751 - 1880 with Oiva Turpeinen). Kannisto's last piece of publishedwork was YearsAdded to Life in Old Age, an article in the Yearbook of PopulationResearch in Finland 2002.Most of Kannisto's research was based on the Oldest-Old Database created by himwith the assistance of Roger Thatcher. The Kannisto- Thatcher Database compileddeaths and population counts at ages above 80 för about 30 countries för which reli-able data were available. A difficult problem in studying mortality among the oldest-old is that the size of the population at very high ages is not well known. Kannisto wasable to solve this problem by applying the method of extinct generations presentedoriginally by Paul Vincent in 1951. When this method is applied, the populations atrisk in the oldest age groups are obtained by summing up the deaths in each cohortbeginning with the oldest.The Kannisto-Thatcher Database is the first data set that makes it possible to obtainreliable results on trends and intemational differences in mortality among very oldpeople, including centenarians. Kannisto's studies showed a clear decline in the old-est-old mortality in all countries, but revealed important differences in the timing andpace of the decline. Kannisto demonstrated that the decline in old-age mortality hadbeen caused by period factors with simultaneous and apparently immediate effects onall old-age groups. The decline was thus not the result of supposedly healthier cohortsgrowing older.The Kannisto-Thatcher Oldest-Old Database was initiated at the Odense UniversityMedical School in Denmark. It is now maintained and updated by the Max PlanckInstitute för Demographic Research in Rostock as the "crownjewel ofthe Institute'sdata holdings" as stated by the director of the Institute, Dr. Jim Vaupel (2002).Väinö Kannisto had reached the age of70 in 1986, when the first articles ofhis "new"research career were published. In 15 years, out of passion för demographic research,he produced an amazing number of important contributions to the understanding oftrends and differentials in mortality. These contributions were recognized not only byexperts in the field. The French Foundation IPSEN awarded him the esteemed Prixde Longevite för his research merits in 1997. Kannisto donated the award to the Fam-ily Federation of Finland för the establishment of the Väinö Kannisto Foundation,which annually awards a prize för the best Finnish demographic thesis in the field ofmortality and health research.8Kannisto often visited Finland and was in active contact with Finnish researchers.The Finnish Statistical Society invited him to be an honorary member in 1990 and theFinnish Demographic Associationin 1997. The University of Tampere conferred himthe title of Honorary Doctor in 1985.The information on Väinö Kannisto' s career presented here is mainly based on hiscurriculum vitae. 1am grateful to Kari Pitkänen för his assistance in the preparation ofthis paper.ReferencesKarvonen, M. J., E. Orma, S.Punsar, V Kallio, M. Arstila, K. Luomanmäki, and J. Takkunen.1970.Coronaryheart diseasein sevencountries6. Fiveyear experiencein Finland.Circulation41, Suppl. 1:1:52--62.Raitis, R., and J. Ahola. (editors). 1996.Hedelmällisyys ja kuolleisuus Itä-Karjalassa 1800-luvun lopulta toiseen maailmansotaan. [Fertilityand Mortality in Eastem Karelia from thel 9th centuryuntil the SecondWorldWar].Tutkimusharjoituskurssinloppuraportti.Helsinginyliopisto: sosiologian laitos.Vaupel, J. W.2002. Dr. Väinö Kannisto: AReflexion. Demographic Research 6, article 5.Vincent, P. 1951.La mortalite des vieillards. Population 6:181-204.List ofVäinö Kannisto's major demographicpublications on mortalityKannisto, V 1945.Mikä lyhentää elinaikaamme? [What shortens our lives?, in Finnish, withGerman summary].Kansantaloudellinen aikakauskirja 41:377-383.Kannisto, V 1947. Kuolemansyyt väestollisinä tekijöinä Suomessa. [The Causes of Death asDemographicalFactors in Finland, in Finnish, with English summary].Kansantaloudellisiatutkimuksia XV Helsinki: Kansantaloudellinen yhdistys.Kannisto, V 1951.Miksi Suomenmiehet kuolevat ennenaikaisesti? [Causes ofuntimely deathamong Finnish men].Duodecim 67:1108-1112.Kannisto, V 1986. Factores associados as diferencas geograficas da mortalidade infantile emPortugal desde 1950.Revista do Centro de Estudos Demograficos, No. 28.Kannisto, V 1986. Focus on Adult Mortality. Yearbook of Population Research in FinlandXXIV:5-13. Helsinki: The PopulationResearch Institute, The Family federation ofFinland.Kannisto, V 1986. Geographic differentials in infant mortality in Finland in 1871-1983.Research Reports 126.Helsinki: StatisticsFinland.Kannisto,V 1988.Imeväiskuolleisuudenalueellisista eroista. [Onregional differencesin infantmortality]. Sosiaalilääketieteellinen Aikakauslehti 25:108-117.Kannisto, V 1988. Mortality at Old Age in the Nordic Countries. Yearbook of PopulationResearch in Finland XXVI:5-21. Helsinki: The Population Research Institute, The FamilyFederation ofFinland.Kannisto, V 1988. On the Survival of Centenarians and the Span ofLife. Population Studies42:389-406.9Kannisto, V 1990.Mortality of the elderly in late l 9'hand early 20'h centuryFinland.ResearchReports 175.Helsinki: StatisticsFinland.Kannisto, V 1990. Vanhusten alueelliset kuolleisuuserot Suomessa 1850-luvulta alkaen.[Geographical differences in the mortality of the elderly in Finland since the 1850s].Sosiaalilääketieteellinen Aikakauslehti 27:417-426.Kannisto, V 1991. Frailty and Survival.Genus 47:101-118.Kannisto,V 1994.DevelopmentofOldest-OldMortality, Evidence.from28DevelopedCountries,1950-1990.MonographsonPopulationAging,No 1.Odense:OdenseUniversityPress.Kannisto, V, J. Lauritsen, A. R. Thatcher, and J. W.Vaupel. 1994.Reductions in Mortality atAdvanced Ages: Several Decades of Evidence from 27 Countries. Population andDevelopment Review 20:793-810, 921-924.Kannisto,V 1996.TheAdvancingFrontierof Survival. MonographsonPopulation Aging,No 3.Odense:OdenseUniversityPress.Kannisto, V, andM. Nieminen. 1996.RevisedLife Tablesfor Finland 1881-1990. Population1996:2.Helsinki: StatisticsFinland.Kannisto, V, K. Christensen, and J. W.Vaupel. 1997.No IncreasedMortality in Later Life förCohorts bom during Famine.American Journal of Epidemiology 145: 987-994.Turpeinen,0.,and V Kannisto. 1997.AbridgedLife Tablesfor Finland 1751-1880. Population1997:5.Helsinki: StatisticsFinland.Thatcher,A. R., V Kannisto, and J.W.Vaupel. 1998.TheForce ofMortality atAges 80 to 120.Monographs on Population Aging, No 5. Odense: Odense University Press.Vaupel,J.W., J.R. Carey,K. Christensen, T.E. Johnson,A. 1.Yashin,N. V Holm, 1.A. Iachine,V Kannisto, A.A.Khazaeli, and P.Liedo. 1998.BiodemographicTrajectories ofLongevity.Science 280:855-860.Kannisto, V 1998-1999. Longevity in the Light of the Latest Data. Yearbook of PopulationResearch inFinlandXXXV:24-29. Helsinki:ThePopulationResearch Institute, The FamilyFederation ofFinland.Kannisto, V, M. Nieminen, and O.Turpeinen. 1999. Finnish Life Tables since 1751.Demographic Research 1, article 1.Kannisto,V 2000.Measuringthe CompressionofMortality.DemographicResearch 3, article6.Thatcher, R., V Kannisto, and K. Andreev. 2002. The Survivor Ratio Method för EstimatingNumbers at High Ages.Demographic Research 6, article 1.Kannisto, V 2002.YearsAddedto Life in OldAge. YearbookofPopulationResearch inFinlandXXXV:111:97-106.Helsinki: The Population Research Institute, The Family Federation ofFinland.

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