Katariina Nivala was born on 28 May 1878 in
Nivala, Finland. Nivala attended a
folk high school in
Haapavesi, where she met
Kyösti Kallio, the head of the local youth organization. They married in 1902 and had six children, including future education minister
Kerttu Saalasti. After marriage, she became the hostess of a farm in Nivala; while Kyösti became increasingly involved in politics, Kaisa frequently turned down appointments to local committees. They moved to the
Presidential Palace in
Helsinki when Kyösti was elected president in 1937. As spouse of the president, Kallio was involved with the
Finnish Girl Guides and the
Kalevala Women's League. After Kyösti Kallio's resignation due to poor health and his death in 1940, she moved back to Nivala to live with her granddaughter Tellervo. On Kallio's 60th birthday in 1938, a civic gift fund was established in her honor, and she donated the proceeds to establish , a rehabilitation centre for rural women. Kallio died on 25 November 1954 in Nivala, at the age of 76. ==References==