Tarja Halonen. Tarja Kaarina Halonen ([tɑrjɑ kɑːrinɑ hɑlonen]; born 24 December 1943) is a Finnish politician who was the 11th President of Finland, serving from 2000 to 2012. She was the first female head of state in Finland and while she was in office, in 2003 and 2010–11, Finland also had female prime ministers (Anneli Jäätteenmäki and Mari Kiviniemi).