| Office: | Chairman of the Liberal People's Party |
| Term Start: | 1978 |
| Term End: | 1982 |
| Office1: | Minister of Education |
| Term Start1: | 1970 |
| Term End1: | 1971 |
| Term Start2: | 1978 |
| Term End2: | 1979 |
| Birth Date: | 7 May 1933 |
| Birth Place: | Porvoo, Finland |
| Death Place: | Helsinki, Finland |
| Party: | Liberal People's Party |
| Spouse: | Helena Itälä |
| Alma Mater: | University of Helsinki |
| Children: | 2 |
Jaakko Itälä (1933–2017) was a Finnish politician. He served as the minister of education for two terms in the 1970s. He was also a member of the Parliament and head of the Liberal People's Party.
Itälä was born in Porvoo on 7 May 1933. He graduated from the University of Helsinki receiving a degree in economics.[1] During his university studies he was a contributor to the student newspaper Ylioppilaslehti.[1]
Following his graduation Itälä founded a middle school in Yläne and directed it.[1] He became an advertising manager and textbook editor at the publishing house K. J. Gummerus in 1958.[1] He continued to write articles in various publications often dealing with the education reform.[1]
In the 1960s Itälä became the general secretary of the school reform committee which developed a model for the elementary schools and headed the committee in late 1960s.[2] During his term he contributed to the basic education reform in Finland.[3] In 1968 Itälä was named as executive director of the Mannerheim Children's Protection Association.[2]
Itälä served as minister of education for two terms: from 1970 to 1971 and from 1978 to 1979. He was elected to the Parliament in 1979 obtaining the second highest vote nationwide in the elections.[2] [4] He served at the Parliament until 1983.[2] He led the Liberal People's Party between 1978 and 1982.
Itälä was the secretary general of Mannerheim Children's Protection Association from 1990 to 1997.[1]
He married Helena Itälä, a psychologist, in 1956.[1] They had two children.[2] He died at the age of 84 in Helsinki on 9 November 2017.[5] [6]
Itälä was named an honorary doctor by the University of Helsinki's Faculty of Philosophy in 1990.[1]