Evelin Ilves (''née'' Int, formerly Int-Lambot; born 20 April 1968) is the second wife of

President of Estonia The president of the Republic of Estonia ( et, Eesti Vabariigi President) is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. The current president is Alar Karis, elected by Parliament on 31 August 2021, replacing Kersti Kaljulaid. Estonia is ...

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 ...

. She was the

First Lady of Estonia The spouse of the president of Estonia is the wife or husband of the president of Estonia. Estonia's current president's spouse is Sirje Karis, wife of president Alar Karis. Spouses of presidents of Estonia See also *President of Estonia Ref ...

from 9 October 2006 until their divorce on 30 April 2015. She was president of the Estonian Rollerskating Federation from 2008 to 2014.

Early life

Ilves grew up in Tallinn and graduated from

Saku Saku may refer to: Places *Saku, Nagano, a city in Japan *Saku, Nagano (Minamisaku), a town in Japan *Saku Parish, a rural municipality in Harju County, Estonia **Saku, Estonia, a small borough in Saku Parish, Harju County, Estonia *Saku Constituen ...

Gymnasium in 1986. In 1993, she received a bachelor's degree in medicine from

Tartu University 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 ...

. She is a member of Estonian female corporation

Filiae Patriae Filiae Patriae (also korp! Filiae Patriae, abbreviated C!FP) is an Estonian student sorority (Studentenverbindung, distinct from the North American understanding of said term); the oldest sorority in Estonia. Filiae Patriae was founded on 27 O ...

Career

In her professional life, Ilves has worked in advertising and public relations; she was marketing director of the newspaper

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 Ju ...

from 1996 to 2001. From 2001 to 2002, she worked for

Enterprise Estonia Enterprise Estonia ( et, Ettevõtluse Arendamise Sihtasutus, abbreviated EAS) is Estonian national foundation ( et, sihtasutus) which goal is to develop economy of Estonia. For developing it aims to three principal areas of activity: :to develop ...

, leading the ''Brand Estonia'' project which developed the widely used slogan and logo ''Welcome to Estonia'' ( :et).Eesti brändiks on “Welcome to Estonia” ja “Paremaks muutumise maa”

, 26 April 2002 In 2005, she began a business project of developing a guesthouse in Ärma farm, located in

Abja Parish Abja Parish ( et, Abja vald) was a rural municipality of Estonia, in Viljandi County. In 2009, it had a population of 2,719 (as of 1 January 2009) and an area of . After the municipal elections held on 15 October 2017, Abja Parish was merged w ...

. The farm has belonged to Toomas Hendrik Ilves's ancestors since the 18th century. As First Lady, Ilves championed a number of initiatives supporting children, health, and the advancement of women. She took part in numerous international state visits.

Personal life

She married her partner, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in 2004 after a five-year relationship. They have one daughter, Kadri Keiu (born 2003). She was previously married to Karli Lambot between 1992 and 1997. On 22 August 2014, footage of Ilves kissing a younger man at a cafe in Tallinn appeared in the Estonian media. Ilves later responded on her own Facebook page, requesting forgiveness from those she had hurt. Two days later it was reported that Ilves had left Estonia for Germany with her daughter. Ilves's consort was named as one Vincent Aranega, allegedly a French national. Ilves subsequently returned to public duties, and was present at the official visit of Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician serving as the List of presidents of Turkey, 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as prime minister of Turkey from 2003 to 2014 and as Lis ...

and

Crown Princess Victoria Victoria, Crown Princess of Sweden, Duchess of Västergötland (Victoria Ingrid Alice Désirée; born 14 July 1977) is the heir apparent to the Swedish throne, as the eldest child of King Carl XVI Gustaf. If she ascends to the throne as expecte ...

and

Prince Daniel of Sweden A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

, in addition to appearing on the front cover of the November edition of the Estonian edition of ''

Hello ''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses ''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the ''Norwich C ...

'' magazine. Evelin and Toomas Hendrik Ilves were divorced on 30 April 2015.

Honours

* : Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown * : Grand Cross of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...

* : Grand Cross of the

Order of the White Rose The Order of the White Rose of Finland ( fi, Suomen Valkoisen Ruusun ritarikunta; sv, Finlands Vita Ros’ orden) is one of three official orders in Finland, along with the Order of the Cross of Liberty, and the Order of the Lion of Finland. T ...

* : Dame Grand Cross of the

Order of Isabella the Catholic The Order of Isabella the Catholic ( es, Orden de Isabel la Católica) is a Spanish civil order and honor granted to persons and institutions in recognition of extraordinary services to the homeland or the promotion of international relations a ...

* : Member Grand Cross of the

Royal Order of the Polar Star The Royal Order of the Polar Star (Swedish: ''Kungliga Nordstjärneorden'') is a Swedish order of chivalry created by King Frederick I on 23 February 1748, together with the Order of the Sword and the Order of the Seraphim. The Order of the ...

* : Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown

References

External links

*
Mrs. Evelin Ilves' page on official Website of the President of the Republic of Estonia archived on Archive.org

Mrs. Evelin Ilves' official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ilves, Evelin 1968 births Living people Spouses of presidents of Estonia People from Tallinn Commanders Grand Cross of the Order of the Polar Star Grand Crosses of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Recipients of the Order of Isabella the Catholic Dames Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic University of Tartu alumni