Vilja Savisaar-Toomast
Vilja Savisaar-Toomast (born August 15, 1962 in Antsla , Estonian SSR ) is an Estonian politician . She has been a member of the Estonian Reform Party since 2013 . Before that she was a long member of the Estonian Center Party ( Estonian Eesti Keskerakond ). From 2009 to 2014, Vilja Savisaar was a member of the European Parliament .
Life and politics
Vilja Savisaar-Toomast was born as Vilja Laanaru in the southern Estonian county of Võru . After graduating from high school in 1980, she studied psychology at the State University of Tartu ( Tartu Riiklik Ülikool ). In 1985 she passed her exam. From 1988 to 1990 she worked as a psychologist in the private sector.
From 1990 to 2002 Savisaar was an editor for various Estonian magazines. She was also politically active: from 1990 to 1992 as a personal advisor to Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar , who later became her husband, and from 1992 to 1994 as an advisor to the Estonian Deputy Speaker of Parliament.
In 1997 she joined the Estonian Center Party. In 1999, Savisaar briefly became mayor of the Tallinn district of Nõmme , then in 2002 deputy mayor and from 2005 to 2007 mayor of the Tallinn district of Põhja-Tallinn . From 1999 to 2002 she was a member of Tallinn City Council.
In 2003, Vilja Savisaar was elected to the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) as a member of the Estonian Center Party . In the elections to the European Parliament on June 7, 2009, she was elected as one of the two MEPs of the Center Party. She held the mandate in Strasbourg until 2014. In 2012 she left the Center Party and became a member of the Estonian Reform Party in June 2013. For this she moved back as a member of the Estonian parliament from 2015 to 2016 and has been a member again since 2018 (re-election 2019).
Private life
Vilja Savisaar was the (third) wife of the chairman of the Estonian Center Party and former Estonian Prime Minister Edgar Savisaar (* 1950), who is currently Lord Mayor of Tallinn, from 1996 to 2009. The marriage produced a daughter.
In July 2010, Vilja Savisaar married the Estonian opera singer Taimo Toomast (* 1963). He brought three children into the marriage.
Web links
- CV (Estonian Parliament)
- Entry on Vilja Savisaar-Toomast in the European Parliament 's database of MEPs
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Savisaar-Toomast, Vilja |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Savisaar, Vilja |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian politician, member of the Riigikogu, MEP |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 15th August 1962 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Antsla |