Sari Essayah

Sari Essayah
Essayah in 2023.
Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
Incumbent
Assumed office 20 June 2023
Prime Minister	Petteri Orpo
Preceded by	Antti Kurvinen
Leader of the Christian Democrats
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 August 2015
Preceded by	Päivi Räsänen
Member of the Parliament of Finland
Incumbent
Assumed office 28 April 2015
In office 19 March 2003 – 20 March 2007
Member of the European Parliament
In office 1 July 2009 – 1 July 2014
Personal details
Born	(1967-02-21) 21 February 1967 (age 57) Haukivuori, Finland
Political party	Christian Democrats
Spouse	Robert Knapp
Children	2

Sari Miriam Essayah (born 21 February 1967) is a Finnish retired racewalker and a politician, former Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and Member of Parliament since 2015. She is the president of the Finnish Christian Democrats party. She is serving as Minister of Agriculture and Forestry since 2023.

During her sports career, Essayah competed mainly in 5 000 and 10 000 metres. In the latter, she won the World Championship in 1993 and the European Championship in 1994. She made seven national records, all of which are still standing.

In 2016, Essayah became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and she has been a member of the Ethics Committee, Finnish Athletics Association since 2014.^[1]