Laura Kolbe

Laura Kolbe (born 9 September 1957) is a Finnish professor of European history at the University of Helsinki.

She is also a Helsinki City Council member, representing the Centre Party and the Inspector of Eteläsuomalainen osakunta, student nation representing Southern Finland.

Kolbe was born in Bogotá, Colombia, to a German Russian economist father, Boris, and a Finnish journalist mother, Pirkko [fi].

Her thesis, Kulosaari - A Dream of a Better Future (1988) dealt with early suburbanization in Helsinki compared to other Scandinavian capitals, London, and Berlin.

In 1994 Kolbe was appointed Senior Lecturer at the University of Helsinki, teaching urban, social and cultural history as well as the history of ideas.