Helsinki Cathedral is a venue for state funerals. Today, state funerals are organized or paid for with state funds only for presidents. In exceptional cases, the State Council can decide to organize or finance funerals for very long-serving prime ministers, speakers of the parliament and persons of special national importance, such as Nobel prize winners. Some notable examples are Mauno Koivisto, the 9 th President of Finland, and the 10th president, Martti Ahtisaari, who was also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a United Nations diplomat and mediator noted for his international peace work.