Ene Ergma (born 29 February 1944) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

, a member of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

(Estonian parliament), and

scientist A scientist is a person who Scientific method, researches to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, philosophers engag ...

. She was a member of the political party

Union of Pro Patria and Res Publica Isamaa () is a Christian democratic and national conservative political party in Estonia. It was founded on 4 June 2006 under the name of "Pro Patria and Res Publica Union", by the merger of two conservative parties, Pro Patria Union and Res ...

and, before the two parties merged, a member of

Res Publica Party Res Publica Party () was a political party in Estonia that self-identified as conservative. Established as a party on 8 December 2001, the political organisation Res Publica was founded already as early as 1989 and existed as a community of you ...

. On 1 June 2016, Ergma announced her resignation from the party, because the party had lost its identity and turned populist.

Education and scientific career

Ergma received her Diploma ''cum laude'' (BSc/MSc equivalent) in astronomy and PhD in physics and mathematics from Lomonosov

Moscow State University Moscow State University (MSU), officially M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University,. is a public university, public research university in Moscow, Russia. The university includes 15 research institutes, 43 faculties, more than 300 departments, a ...

, and a DSc degree from Institute of Space Research, Moscow. Before entering politics she worked as a professor of

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

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.

(since 1988). In 1994, she was elected to the

Estonian Academy of Sciences Founded in 1938, the Estonian Academy of Sciences (, ) is Estonia's national academy of science in Tallinn. As with other national academies, it is an independent group of well-known scientists whose stated aim is to promote research and develo ...

. Most of her scientific research has been done on the evolution of the

compact object In astronomy, the term compact object (or compact star) refers collectively to white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes. It could also include exotic stars if such hypothetical, dense bodies are confirmed to exist. All compact objects have a ...

s (such as

white dwarfs A white dwarf is a stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place in a white dwarf; what ...

and

neutron stars A neutron star is the gravitationally collapsed core of a massive supergiant star. It results from the supernova explosion of a massive star—combined with gravitational collapse—that compresses the core past white dwarf star density to th ...

) and also

gamma ray burst In gamma-ray astronomy, gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are extremely energetic events occurring in distant galaxies which represent the brightest and most powerful class of explosion in the universe. These extreme electromagnetic emissions are second ...

Political career

From March 2003 until March 2006, Ergma was Speaker of the Riigikogu. From March 2006 to April 2007, she was the second Vice-President of the Riigikogu. On 2 April 2007 she was re-elected as Speaker of the Riigikogu and kept the post until March 2014. Ergma was the only candidate in the first round of the 2006 presidential election in the

on 28 August 2006. She gathered 65 votes, 3 votes less than the at least 2/3 of the Riigikogu votes necessary for the election. She also ran along Volli Kalm and Birute Klaas for the presidency of University of Tartu, but was not elected. She is the chairwoman of the Space Research Committee of the Riigikogu.

References

1944 births Living people People from Rakvere Politicians from Lääne-Viru County Res Publica Party politicians Isamaa politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 2003–2007 Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Speakers of the Riigikogu 20th-century Estonian physicists 20th-century Estonian women scientists Members of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Moscow State University alumni Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class 21st-century Estonian women politicians 20th-century women scientists 21st-century Estonian physicists 21st-century Estonian women scientists Estonian women physicists Women members of the Riigikogu Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class {{Estonia-2011-Riigikogu-politician-stub

Education and scientific career

Political career

See also

References