Andra Veidemann
Andra Veidemann (born Eesmaa; born July 18, 1955 in Tallinn , Estonian SSR ) is an Estonian historian, ethnologist and politician.
Early years
Andra Veidemann was born as the daughter of the Estonian tenor Enno Eesmaa (1917–1997). She graduated from the 7th Middle School in Tallinn in 1977 . She then studied history and ethnology at the State University of Tartu until 1978 .
After completing her studies, Veidemann worked as an ethnographer at the Historical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR from 1978 to 1990 . From 1990 to 1992 she worked in the Estonian Ministry of Culture. She was the head of the department for religious issues. In 1991 she took courses in theology at Helsinki University .
politician
Shortly before Estonian regained independence, Veidemann entered politics in 1989. Veidemann was a co-founder of the Liberal Democratic Party ( Liberaaldemokraatliku Party ), later the center-left center party ( Keskerakond ) that was launched in 1991 .
In the first free parliamentary election in 1992 , Veidemann was elected as a member of the Riigikogu . In the 1995 election , she again succeeded in entering parliament.
From October 1995 to March 1996, after the resignation of party chairman and interior minister Edgar Savisaar due to a bugging scandal , Veidemann was party chairman of the Keskerakond . But then she fell out with Savisaar. Veidemann resigned from the party and founded the Progressive Party ( Arengu Party ) with like-minded people in May 1996 .
From May 1996 to February 1999 Veidemann was chairman of the arengu party . The party was programmatically located in the liberal center. From December 1996 to March 1999 she was also Minister without Portfolio in the Cabinets of Prime Ministers Tiit Vähi ( Cabinet Vähi III ) and Mart Siimann ( Cabinet Siimann I ). She was responsible for European affairs in 1996/96, then from 1997 to 1999 for population issues, in particular state policy towards the Russian-speaking minority .
At the beginning of 1999, immediately before the upcoming parliamentary elections , Veidemann surprisingly switched to the party of the Estonian rural people ( Eesti Maarahva Erakond ) because her party had little chance of a new parliamentary mandate. At the same time, she headed the Estonian Association for Human Rights ( Eesti Inimõiguste Assotsiatsioon ) from 1999 .
Veidemann initially belonged to the party of the Estonian rural people or its successor party, the Agrarian People's Union ( Rahvaliit ).
From 2001 Veidemann was an advisor to the Estonian President Arnold Rüütel , whose political home is the People's Union. She was then chairman of the board of trustees of the state-sponsored "Foundation Social Contract " ( Ühiskondliku Leppe Sihtasutus ), which deals with future issues of the Estonian population. From 2007, Veidemann worked for two years as a cultural attachée at the Estonian embassy in Moscow .
In 2009 Andra Veidemann switched to the Social Democratic Party ( Sotsiaaldemokraatlik Erakond ). In the subsequent local election she was elected to the Tallinn City Council for the Social Democrats.
Private life
Andra Veidemann is the wife of the Estonian literary scholar and journalist Rein Veidemann (* 1946). The couple have a daughter. Andra Veidemann's brother is the Estonian journalist and politician Enn Eesmaa (* 1946).
literature
- Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 593
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Veidemann, Andra |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Eesmaa, Andra (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian historian, ethnologist and politician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 18, 1955 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Tallinn , Estonian SSR |