Mart Siimann (born 21 September 1946) is an Estonian politician. He was

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 1997 to 1999 as a member of the

Estonian Coalition Party Estonian Coalition Party () was an Estonian centre-right liberal political party. Founded in 1991 by Tiit Vähi, it disbanded in 2002. The party was an observing member of Liberal International from 1998 on. It had contacts with parties like L ...

, and President of the

Estonian Olympic Committee The Estonian Olympic Committee (, EOK) is responsible for Estonia's participation in the Olympic Games. History The Estonian Sports Federation () decided to form the Estonian Olympic Committee in the First Estonian Sport Congress () on 30 Novem ...

from 2001 to 2012.

Early life

Mart Siimann was born in

Kilingi-Nõmme Kilingi-Nõmme is a town in Pärnu County, southwestern Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saarde Parish. It is located on the intersection of Valga– Uulu (Valga–Pärnu, no. 6) and Tartu–Viljandi–Kilingi-Nõmme (no. 92) roads, ...

on 21 September 1946. He graduated from high school in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

in 1965 and received a degree in philology and psychology 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.

in 1971. He then began working as a government psychologist until 1975 when he became a senior researcher at the University of Tartu. Siimann left his research job at the University of Tartu in 1982 to work in the media. He worked for

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) () is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Television'') was launched on ...

until 1987 when he became director of

Eesti Raadio Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio, ER) was the public service radio broadcaster of Estonia that, at the time of closure, operated five national radio stations. It was closed in 2007 as a result of a merger with Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Televisio ...

. He then returned to Eesti Televisioon as its leader in 1989, and the same year he was elected to serve on the

Tallinn City Council Tallinn City Council () is the representative body of the municipality of Tallinn, the capital and biggest city of Estonia. The executive power body of Tallinn is the Tallinn City Government. Election The members of the Tallinn City Council are ...

. He left Eesti Televisioon in 1992 to be managing director of Advertising Television Co. TV, where he worked until 1995. He was elected to the

VIII Riigikogu VIII Riigikogu was the eighth legislature of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). The legislature was elected after 1995 election. Election results Officers Speaker of the Riigikogu: Toomas Savi Toomas Savi (born 30 December 1942 in Tartu, ...

that year and became chair of the

Prime Minister of Estonia

Siimann succeeded Tiit Vähi as

on 17 March 1997. Siimann's Coalition Party formed a government with the Country People's Party. Also joining with the smaller , Siimann led a

centrist Centrism is the range of political ideologies that exist between left-wing politics and right-wing politics on the left–right political spectrum. It is associated with moderate politics, including people who strongly support moderate policie ...

coalition. Siimann advocated that Estonia join

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and integrate with the Western European economy, but he also declared his intention to normalize

Estonia–Russia relations Estonia–Russia relations are the bilateral diplomacy, foreign relations between Estonia and Russia. Diplomatic relations between the two countries were established on 2 February 1920 after the Estonian War of Independence ended in Estonian vi ...

. Only half of his cabinet were party officials, with the other half made up of technocrats. This meant that there was very little shuffling of the cabinet, and there were three changes in total throughout Siimann's premiership, but it also meant that interest groups were able to secure influence among the politically-unaffiliated cabinet members. He also allowed civil servants to attend cabinet meetings and encouraged discourse between members of the cabinet. Siimann's term as prime minister ended on 25 March 1999 when the 1999 parliamentary election allowed

Mart Laar Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's Economy_of_Estonia#Restoration_o ...

to form a government.

Post-premiership

After leaving politics, Siimann became president of the

in 2001, holding the position until 2012.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Siimann, Mart 1946 births Living people People from Kilingi-Nõmme Politicians from Pärnu County Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Estonian Coalition Party politicians Prime ministers of Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 1995–1999 Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003 Estonian television personalities Estonian radio personalities Estonian referees and umpires 21st-century Estonian politicians University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class