The agronomist who pushed a sovereignty declaration through the Soviet system and led Estonia out of the empire
Lukyanov warned him of a ten-year sentence for 'anti-constitutional activity.' Rüütel stood his ground: 'We will convene the Supreme Council and put the Declaration of Independence to a vote,' inadvertently saying 'Independence' instead of 'Sovereignty,' as he later recalled.
An agricultural economist from the Estonian island of Saaremaa, Rüütel rose through the Soviet system: rector of the Estonian Agricultural Academy, Communist Party functionary, and finally chairman of the Presidium of the Estonian SSR Supreme Soviet in 1983. On 16 November 1988, defying Moscow's threat of imprisonment, he pushed the Estonian sovereignty declaration through the legislature, opening the first crack in the Soviet edifice; in 1990, as chairman of the Supreme Council, he declared Soviet rule illegal and initiated the transition to restored independence. After independence he was elected president in 2001 and served until 2006, steering Estonia into NATO and the European Union.
Activities and affiliations
Career Timeline
- 1949–1950Senior agronomist, Saaremaa Executive Committee agricultural department
- 1955–1957Teacher, Tartu School of Agricultural Mechanization
- 1957–1963Senior zootechnician and director, experimental farm of the Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Research Institute
- 1963–1969Director, Tartu Reference State Farm
- 1969–1977Rector, Estonian Academy of Agriculture
- 1977–1979Secretary for agriculture, Central Committee of the Communist Party of Estonia
- 1979–1983First Deputy Chairman, Council of Ministers of the Estonian SSR
- 1983–1990Chairman, Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR
- 1990–1992Chairman, Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia
- 2001–2006President of the Republic of Estonia
Related historical events
From the sovereignty declaration to restored independence
As chairman of the Presidium of the Estonian SSR Supreme Soviet, Rüütel played an important part in drafting and adopting the Declaration of Sovereignty on 16 November 1988. It asserted the supremacy of republican laws over union laws from Moscow and called for relations between Estonia and the Soviet centre to be set by agreement through negotiations. Moscow declared the document null and void, but it publicly advanced the republic’s claim to legal and political autonomy. Elected chairman of the new Supreme Council in March 1990, Rüütel initiated the establishment of a Baltic council that May and was involved in the Council’s decision declaring Soviet state power in Estonia unlawful and opening a transition to restored independence. On 20 August 1991, the Supreme Council declared the restoration of independence; Estonia became a member of the United Nations on 17 September. Rüütel chaired the Council through this transition until October 1992.