Ülle Aaskivi (née Kiin; 5 December 1950 – 17 January 2007) was an Estonian lawyer, politician, and public official. Aaskivi was elected a member of the Estonian Supreme Soviet in 1990 and the Estonian Constitutional Assembly, as well as one of the ratifiers of the

Constitution of Estonia Constitution of Estonia is the fundamental law of the Republic of Estonia and establishes the state order as that of a democratic republic where the supreme power is vested in its citizens. The first Constitution was adopted by the freely elect ...

who voted for the

Estonian restoration of Independence Estonian Restoration of Independence, legally defined as the Restoration of the Republic of Estonia, was proclaimed on 20 August 1991. On that day at 23:02 local time, the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia, in agreement with the Eston ...

."Kolmapäeval suri valitsuse nõunik, suur väike naine Ülle Aaskivi"
EPL, 19 January 2007 She was elected to 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 Chief Just ...

for the Social Democratic Party of Estonia.

Biography

Aaskivi was born on 5 December 1950 in

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu. ...

as Ülle Kiin. Sirje Kiin ( :et) was her sister. She graduated from Viljandi 1st Secondary School in 1968 and from the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

Faculty of Law."Ülle Aaskivi: riigikogus toimuv on katastroof"
PM, 28.08.2006 She worked at the prosecutor's office and later as a government adviser. Aaskivi started her political career in

Viljandi County Viljandi County ( et, Viljandi maakond or ''Viljandimaa''; german: Kreis Fellin) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties. History Viljandimaa, under the ...

by organizing a local branch of the

Popular Front of Estonia The Popular Front of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Rahvarinne; RR), introduced to the public by the Estonian politician Edgar Savisaar under the short-lived name Popular Front for the Support of Perestroika, was a political organisation in Estonia in ...

and was elected to the Supreme Soviet of Estonia along with

Jaak Allik Jaak Allik (born 6 October 1946) is an Estonian theatre critic, theatre director and politician. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, and was previously the Estonian Minister of Culture 1995–1999 ( et, Eesti kultuuriminister). He w ...

Uno Anton Uno Anton (4 April 1942 in Suislepa – 19 April 2012) was an Estonian politician and a voter for the Estonian restoration of Independence. He was born in Suislepa as the fifth child of six. His father died early and his mother raised their child ...

, and Jüri Rätsep. In 2002, on the tenth anniversary of the ratification of the

, a collection of articles, memoirs and documents, "Põhiseaduse tulek", was published by Aaskivi and Eve Pärnaste.

Term at the Riigikogu

Prior to the 2006 presidential election, the

Conservative People's Party of Estonia The Conservative People's Party of Estonia ( et, Eesti Konservatiivne Rahvaerakond, EKRE) is a national-conservative and right-wing populist political party in Estonia. It is currently led by Martin Helme. It was founded in March 2012, with the ...

(EKRE) and

Estonian Centre Party The Estonian Centre Party ( et, Eesti Keskerakond, EK) is a populist political party in Estonia. It was founded in 1991 as a direct successor of the Popular Front of Estonia, and it is currently led by Jüri Ratas. The party was founded on 12 O ...

leaders mandated a ban on their party members from voting in the presidential election.Peeter Kuime
"Rahvaliit ja Keskerakond hääletamisel ei osale"
PM, 28.08.2006 Opinions on the decision were controversial: EKRE's chairman Villu Reiljan said that the decision was made on possible attempts to acquire money, while

Tõnis Lukas Tõnis Lukas (born 5 June 1962) is an Estonian politician, former Ministry of Culture (Estonia), Minister of Culture from 2019 to 2021 and Minister of Education and Research (Estonia), Minister of Education and Research from 1999 to 2002 and from ...

, the co-chairman of

Pro Patria and Res Publica Union 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 Publi ...

, expressed his opinion that the EKRE would undermine the free will of the MEPs.Peeter Kuime
"Reiljan: rahvaliitlasi võidakse ära osta"
PM, 28.08.2006 According to Aaskivi, this was an undemocratic step that she could not accept as a citizen.Aivar Reina
"Toomas Varek: Ülle Aaskivi käitus ülbelt ja ebameeldivalt"
PM, 28.08.2006 On 28 August 2006, at the session of the

, Aaskivi, after serving as a representative of the government, a presentation of the government's draft before the first extraordinary personal statement of the presidential election (which she said as a citizen of the Republic of Estonia and as a member of the 20 August Club"Ülle Aaskivi haukus demokraatia valvekoerana"
EPL, 29. august 2006), invited all members of the Riigikogu to participate in the presidential elections in the Riigikogu. She condemned the absence of the presidential election of EKRE and the Centre Party, and called on the ambassadors to serve the country of Estonia. There was a lot of reactions to the presentation by Aaskivi. According to then Speaker of the Riigikogu, Centre Party member Toomas Varek, Aaskivi abused her position. "It would have been correct if she would have asked for the permission of the Riigikogu to give prior permission and also showed her statement," Varek commented in an interview with ''

Postimees ''Postimees'' () is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 ...

''. "Without such a statement, I certainly would not have allowed it." On the other hand, Chancellor of Justice

Allar Jõks Allar Jõks (born 18 March 1965) is an Estonian lawyer and the former Chancellor of Justice. He was proposed to the office by President Lennart Meri and served between 2001 and 2008. He was proposed again by Toomas Hendrik Ilves in December 2007, ...

found that "it was a sincere and courageous performance."

Ain Seppik Ain Seppik (born 12 March 1952 in Tallinn) is an Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west ...

, head of the central faction of the Riigikogu, told ''

Eesti Päevaleht ''Eesti Päevaleht'' ''("Estonia Daily")'' is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly ''Eesti Ekspress''. It has a daily circulation of around 36,000. History and profile ''Eesti Päevaleht'' was founded on 5 Jun ...

'': "She behaved very boldly and with inner conviction as a woman, and she had a reason to show her respect."

Death and legacy

Aaaskivi died on 17 January 2007 after a period of illness. In a short in memoriam post on ''

'' written after her death, former President of Estonia

Toomas Hendrik Ilves Toomas Hendrik Ilves (; 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 ...

called her "a big little woman", remarking her influence during her time on the Riigikogu. She had three children: daughters Birgit and Signe, and son Urmas.

Awards

* 2002: 5th class of the Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 14 March 2002) * 2006: 3rd class of the Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 23 February 2006) * 2007: Open Estonia Foundation Compilation Award (2006, awarded posthumously) * 2007: Estonian Women's Co-operation Team Award"Ülle Aaskivi valiti Teenäitajaks"
PM, 11.01.2007

Writings and speeches

* "Põhiseaduse tulek". Written by Eve Pärnaste and Ülle Aaskivi (designer-consultant). Kirjastus SE & JS 2002, (binding),
"Ülle Aaskivi kõne Riigikogus 28. augustil 2006"
Jevgeni Krištafovitš

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaskivi, Ulle 1950 births 2007 deaths People from Viljandi Estonian jurists Social Democratic Party (Estonia) politicians Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 3rd Class Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 5th Class 20th-century Estonian women politicians 21st-century Estonian women politicians University of Tartu alumni Voters of the Estonian restoration of Independence Women members of the Riigikogu 20th-century Estonian politicians 21st-century Estonian politicians