Arnold Rüütel

Arnold Rüütel 2005

Arnold Rüütel ( IPA : [ˈɑr̺.nold̥ ˈr̺yː.tɛl] ; UPA : [arnol D rüütel]) (born May 10, 1928 in Pahavalla on the island of Saaremaa ) is an Estonian politician. He was head of state of the Republic of Estonia from 1990 to 1992 and from 2001 to 2006.

Life

The scientist

The later agricultural scientist graduated from the agricultural school in Jäneda and worked from 1949 to 1950 in the agricultural department of the Saaremaa administration. From 1955 to 1957 he was a teacher at the Agricultural Machinery Institute in Tartu . In 1969 he was appointed rector of the Estonian Agricultural Academy .

The political career

Since 1971 he has worked in various public offices in the Estonian SSR and from 1983 served as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR.

In March 1990 he was elected chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia.
The Assembly of Baltic States, with whose help Estonia , Latvia and Lithuania jointly sought a way out of dependence on the USSR , went back on his initiative .
Arnold Rüütel became a member of the Constituent Assembly of Estonia and was President of the Republic after regaining independence (from September 6, 1991 to October 5, 1992). He then lost to Lennart Meri in the presidential election in 1992 with 43% of the votes cast .

From 1994 to 2000 Arnold Rüütel was chairman of the Estonian Rural People's Party ( Maarahva erakond ) and was elected to the Estonian parliament ( Riigikogu ) in 1995 , of which he is a member as its vice-president.

Rüütel remained scientifically active alongside politics and received his doctorate in agriculture in 1991. He is Emeritus of the Estonian Agricultural Academy, Honorary Doctorates from Bentley College (USA), University of Helsinki (Finland), National Agricultural University of Ukraine and has published more than 100 scientific papers.

Arnold Rüütel is a supporter of Estonia's membership in the European Union .

After Lennart Meri's second term of office ended, Rüütel became President again in October 2001. In 2006 he decided to run for a further term, but not in the regular ballots in parliament, but only in the third-round election assembly (expanded to include representatives of the districts and municipalities) if the first two would fail. This third ballot took place on September 23, 2006; Rüütel lost it with 162 votes to 174 against the Social Democrat Toomas Hendrik Ilves . The handover took place on October 9, 2006.

Arnold Rüütel is honorary chairman of the Estonian Conservative People's Party ( Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond ).

Private

Arnold Rüütel is married to Ingrid Rüütel and has two daughters and numerous grandchildren. He is also committed to nature conservation and is a member of numerous clubs and associations that are involved in this area.

Web links

Commons : Arnold Rüütel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography on the Estonian President's website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Online report on news.err.ee from May 15, 2018, accessed on October 9, 2018 (English)