Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Toomas Hendrik Ilves
4th President of Estonia
In office
9 October 2006 – 10 October 2016
Prime Minister Andrus Ansip
Taavi Rõivas
Preceded by Arnold Rüütel
Succeeded by Kersti Kaljulaid
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
25 March 1999 – 28 January 2002
Prime Minister Mart Laar
Preceded by Raul Mälk
Succeeded by Kristiina Ojuland
In office
November 1996 – October 1998
Prime Minister Tiit Vähi
Mart Siimann
Preceded by Siim Kallas
Succeeded by Raul Mälk
Personal details
Born (1953-12-26) 26 December 1953
Stockholm, Sweden
Political party Social Democratic Party (Before 2006)
Independent (2006–present)
Spouse(s) Merry Bullock (1981–2004)
Evelin Int (2004–2015)
Ieva Kupče (2016–present)
Children 3
Alma mater Columbia University
University of Pennsylvania
Signature

Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonian pronunciation: [ˈtoːmɑs ˈhendrik ˈilves]; born 26 December 1953) is an Estonian politician who served as the fourth President of Estonia from 2006 until 2016. Ilves worked as a diplomat and journalist, and he was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s. He served in the government as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 1998 and again from 1999 to 2002. Later, he was a Member of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2006. He was elected as President of Estonia by an electoral college on 23 September 2006 and his term as President began on 9 October 2006. He was reelected by Parliament in 2011.

Early life and education

Ilves was born in Stockholm, Sweden; his parents Endel and Irene Ilves were Estonian refugees.[1] His maternal grandmother was Russian from Saint Petersburg.[2][3] He grew up in the United States in Leonia, New Jersey, and graduated from Leonia High School in 1972 as valedictorian.[4] He received a bachelor's degree in psychology from Columbia University in 1976 and a master's degree in the same subject from the University of Pennsylvania in 1978.[5] He also received an honorary degree from St. Olaf College in 2014 in recognition of his relationship with the college.[6] In addition to his native Estonian, Ilves also speaks English, German, Latvian and Spanish.[7]

Career

Ilves worked as a research assistant in Columbia University Department of Psychology from 1974 to 1979. From 1979 to 1981 he served as assistant director and English teacher at the Open Education Center in Englewood, New Jersey.[5] Ilves then moved to Vancouver, Canada; from 1981 to 1983 he was director and administrator of arts in Vancouver Arts Centre and from 1983 to 1984 he taught Estonian literature and linguistics in Simon Fraser University.[5]

From 1984 to 1993, Ilves worked in Munich, Germany as a journalist for Radio Free Europe, being the head of its Estonian desk since 1988.[5] As Estonia had restored its independence in 1991, Ilves became Ambassador of Estonia to the United States in 1993,[8] also serving as Ambassador to Canada and Mexico at the same time.

In December 1996, Ilves became Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs, serving until he resigned in September 1998, when he became a member of a small opposition party (Peasants' Party, agrarian-conservative). Ilves was soon elected chairman of the People's Party (reformed Peasants' Party), which formed an electoral cartel with the Moderates, a centrist party. After the March 1999 parliamentary election he became foreign minister again, serving until 2002, when the so-called Triple Alliance collapsed. He supported Estonian membership in the European Union and succeeded in starting the negotiations which led to Estonia joining the European Union on 1 May 2004. From 2001 to 2002 he was the leader of the People's Party Moderates. He resigned from the position after the party's defeat in the October 2002 municipal elections, in which the party received only 4.4% of the total votes nationwide. In early 2004, the Moderates party renamed itself the Estonian Social Democratic Party.

In 2003, Ilves became an observer member of the European Parliament and, on 1 May 2004, a full member. In the 2004 elections to the European Parliament, Ilves was elected MEP in a landslide victory for the Estonian Social Democratic Party. He sat with the Party of European Socialists group in the Parliament. Katrin Saks took over his MEP seat when Ilves became President of Estonia in 2006. In 2011, he was re-elected for a second five-year term.[9]

In 2013, it was announced that Ilves had accepted a position on the Council on CyberSecurity's Advisory Board.[10] In 2015, it was announced that Ilves had agreed to join the group of advisers to the World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.[11]

Presidential elections

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves and President George W. Bush, in Estonia 2006

Ilves was nominated by the Reform Party, Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica and his own Social Democratic Party on 23 March 2006, as a candidate for the 2006 presidential election.

On 29 August, Ilves was the only candidate in the second and the third round of the presidential election in Riigikogu, the Parliament of Estonia (he was supported by an electoral coalition consisting of the governing Reform Party plus the Social Democrats and the Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica which form the parliamentary opposition). Ilves gathered 64 votes out of 65 ballots. Therefore, one deputy of the three party alliance supporting Ilves did not vote in favour of his candidacy. A two-third majority in the 101-seat Riigikogu was required, so he was not elected in Riigikogu. His candidacy was automatically transferred to the next round in the Electors' Assembly on 23 September.

On 13 September 2006, a broad spectrum of 80 well-known intellectuals published a declaration in support of Ilves' candidacy. Among those who signed were Neeme Järvi, Jaan Kross, Arvo Pärt and Jaan Kaplinski.[12]

On 23 September 2006 he received 174 ballots in the first round of the presidential election in the Electors' Assembly, thus having been elected the next president of Estonia. His five-year term started on 9 October 2006.

Toomas Hendrik Ilves and Dmitry Medvedev in 2008

On 29 August 2011, he was reelected by the 101-seat legislature to a second five-year term. His opponent was Indrek Tarand. He received support from 73 members of the legislature, and is the first candidate to be elected in the first round since Estonia regained independence in 1991.[13]

Personal life

Ilves has been married three times. With his first wife, American psychologist Merry Bullock, he has two children: son Luukas Kristjan (b. 1987) and daughter Juulia Kristiine (b. 1992).[14] In 2004, Ilves married his longtime partner Evelin Int-Lambot with whom he has one daughter, Kadri Keiu (b. 2003).[15] Ilves' representatives announced on 17 April that Ilves and Evelin Ilves have divorced as of 30 April 2015. Their marriage lasted for 10.5 years and broke up after being distant from each other for a while.[16] In December 2015 it was announced that Ilves was engaged in mid-November to Ieva Kupče, the head of the Cybersecurity Division in the Defense Ministry of Latvia.[17] They married on 2 January 2016.[18]

Ilves has been noted for his enthusiasm for social media. He maintains a Twitter account, personally posting on a regular basis to comment on both current events and his own interests, usually in English.[19]

In public, Ilves almost exclusively wears bow ties. He says that this is because his late father used to do so.[20]

Ilves has a brother, Andres Ilves, formerly head of the Persian and Pashto World Service of the BBC. Until the early 2000s, Andres Ilves was head of the Afghanistan bureau of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty based in Prague, Czech Republic.

Decorations

Toomas Hendrik Ilves (2012)

References

  1. ↑ "U.S.-Educated Diplomat Wins in Estonia". Associated Press. September 23, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  2. ↑ An Interview with Toomas Hendrik Ilves
  3. ↑ Interview to the Russian daily "Nezavasimaya Gazeta"
  4. ↑ Jackson, Herb. "From Estonia to Leonia", The Record (Bergen County), April 23, 2008. Accessed March 30, 2011. Copy of article at the official website of the President of Estonia. "Leonia High School helped make the Baltic Sea nation of Estonia one of the most Internet-reliant in the world, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves says. How? By including Ilves, who grew up in Leonia, in an experimental four-year math program that featured computer programming."
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Toomas Hendrik Ilves". Columbia University.
  6. ↑ http://wp.stolaf.edu/blog/president-of-estonia-to-receive-honorary-degree-speak-at-commencement/
  7. ↑ http://www.robert-schuman.eu/en/eem/0554-toomas-hendrik-ilves-social-democrat-party-sde-was-elected-president-of-the-republic-of-estonia-by-the-electoral-college-in-the-first-round-of-the-election-on-23rd-september
  8. ↑ List of Estonian ambassadors to the United States, U.S. State Department website.
  9. ↑ "Estonian President Ilves re-elected". CBS News. 29 August 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.counciloncybersecurity.org/about-us/advisory-board
  11. ↑ "Estonian president to become adviser to World Bank president". ERR. 27 January 2015.
  12. ↑ "80 kultuuritegelast hakkasid Ilvese usaldusmeesteks". Eesti Päevaleht. 13 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  13. ↑ Ummelas, Ott. "Estonian Lawmakers Approve Second Term for President Ilves". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 August 2011.
  14. ↑ Pauts, Katrin (21 February 2008). "Merry Bullock: olulisim pärand Toomaselt, peale laste, oli see, et ta tõi mind Eestisse". Õhtuleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  15. ↑ Pauts, Katrin (13 October 2004). "Evelin Int-Lambot ja Toomas Hendrik Ilves abiellusid". Õhtuleht (in Estonian). Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  16. ↑ http://ekspress.delfi.ee/news/paevauudised/ekspressi-suur-lugu-presidendipaar-lahutab-mis-saab-edasi-kuhu-kolib-evelin-kuidas-jagatakse-vara?id=71267821
  17. ↑ https://meduza.io/en/news/2015/12/08/estonian-president-is-engaged-to-latvia-s-top-cybersecurity-official
  18. ↑ "President Ilves to wed this week". ERR. 28 December 2015. Retrieved 2016-01-01.
  19. ↑ Seddon, Max (23 September 2013). "The President Of Twitter". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  20. ↑ "Online intervjuu: Toomas Hendrik Ilves" (in Estonian). Eesti Päevaleht. 3 September 2002. Retrieved 2006-09-23.
  21. ↑ http://www.estonia.com.au/pics/er_21.pdf
  22. ↑ "Noblesse et Royautes" (French), State visit of Spain in Estonia, May 2009
  23. ↑ Belga Pictures, State visit of Belgium in Estonia, 10–12 June 2008
  24. ↑ "Det Norske Kongehuset" (Norwegian), List of awarded medals Retrieved 2015-05-20
  25. ↑ Biography on the official web page of the president at the Wayback Machine (archived May 9, 2016)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Toomas Hendrik Ilves.
Diplomatic posts
New office Ambassador to the United States
1993–1996 		Succeeded by
Kalev Stoicescu
Political offices
Preceded by
Siim Kallas		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1996–1998 		Succeeded by
Raul Mälk
Preceded by
Raul Mälk		 Minister of Foreign Affairs
1999–2002 		Succeeded by
Kristiina Ojuland
Preceded by
Arnold Rüütel		 President of Estonia
2006–2016 		Succeeded by
Kersti Kaljulaid
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