Andres Tarand (born 11 January 1940) is an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n geographer, climatologist and politician who served as the

Prime Minister of Estonia The prime minister of Estonia () is the head of government of the Estonia, Republic of Estonia. The prime minister is nominated by the President of Estonia, president after appropriate consultations with the parliamentary factions and confirmed ...

from 1994 to 1995. He was also a

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

(MEP) for the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

, part of the

Party of European Socialists The Party of European Socialists (PES) is a Social democracy, social democratic European political party. The PES comprises national-level political parties from all the European Economic Area, European economic area states (EEA) plus the Unit ...

, between 2004 and 2009. Tarand was born in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

. His father poet, philologist, philosopher and cultural figure Helmut Tarand. He graduated from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

with a degree in

climatology Climatology (from Greek , ''klima'', "slope"; and , '' -logia'') or climate science is the scientific study of Earth's climate, typically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of at least 30 years. Climate concerns the atmospher ...

in 1963. After receiving his first degree he continued his studies at Tartu receiving a second degree in geography in 1973. He continued to do research at Tartu, eventually becoming director of research in 1979, to 1981. In October 1980, Tarand was a signatory of the Letter of 40 Intellectuals, a public letter in which forty prominent Estonian intellectuals defended the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

and protested the

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

policies of the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

in Estonia. The signatories also expressed their unease against Republic-level government in harshly dealing with youth protests in Tallinn that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. Besides serving as director of research at University of Tartu, Tarand has also been a member of the board for the university, since 1996, as well as director of the Tallinn Botanical Gardens, from 1988 to 1990. Tarand has also been a member of the Estonian Parliament from 1992 to 2004. While in parliament Tarand served as the Minister of the Environment twice, 1992 to 1994 and 1994 to 1995, as well as his term as prime minister. He was elected to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

in June 2004. Tarand has also been involved in environmental and sustainable development concerns not only in Estonia but throughout the

Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages *Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...

and Nordic states. His involvement in these concerns has led to his involvement in such organisations as the Estonian Geographical Association, Estonian Institute for Sustainable Development, Stockholm Environment Institute, Estonian Nature Fund, and GLOBE International Europe. He has published a title ''Tornadoes in Estonia'' with Éditions Universitaires Européennes. Andres Tarand and his wife, journalist Mari Tarand (''née'' Viiding; 1941–2020) have two sons. The elder son Indrek Tarand (born 1964) is a politician, historian and journalist who also won a seat in the

, running as an independent candidate in the 2009 election. The younger son Kaarel Tarand (born 1966) is a well-known journalist. His first cousin is writer, poet, humorist and politician Priit Aimla.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tarand, Andres 1940 births Living people Politicians from Tallinn Social Democratic Party (Estonia) politicians Estonian geographers Prime ministers of Estonia University of Tartu alumni Social Democratic Party (Estonia) MEPs MEPs for Estonia 2004–2009 Environment ministers of Estonia Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class Members of the Riigikogu, 1992–1995 Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999 Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003 Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007 Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Voters of the Estonian restoration of Independence Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 1st Class