Jüri Kork (born 3 August 1947,

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

) is an Estonian politician, most notable for voting 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 Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, Supreme Counci ...

. Kork graduated from Tsirguliina High School in 1966 and the Department of Physical Education 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 ...

in 1970. He worked as a teacher at

Põltsamaa Põltsamaa (german: Oberpahlen) is a town in Põltsamaa Parish, Jõgeva County, Estonia. The town is situated on the Põltsamaa River, and features a 13th-century castle. Gallery Põltsamaa Jõgi.jpg, Põltsamaa River Põltsamaa Vabadussõja m ...

High School from 1972 to 1976. From 1976 to 1982, he was the chairman of the Sports Committee of the

Jõgeva Jõgeva (german: Laisholm) is a small town in Estonia with a population of around 5000 people. It is the capital of Jõgeva Parish and Jõgeva County. History Jõgeva was first mentioned in 1599 as ''Jagiwa'' manor, being established only rec ...

Raion and, from 1982 to 1990, was the director of

Pühajärve Pühajärve (german: Heiligensee) is a village in Otepää Parish, Valga County in southern 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 ...

Holiday Village. From

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

to 1992, Kork was a member of the Supreme Soviet of Estonia and the

Congress of Estonia The Congress of Estonia ( Estonian: ''Eesti Kongress'') was an innovative grassroots parliament established in Estonia in 1990–1992 as a part of the process of regaining of independence from the Soviet Union. It also challenged the power and au ...

, voting for Estonia's restoration of independence. In the Soviet, he was a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, the Family and Social Affairs Committee and later the Administrative Reform Commission. He is a member of the Group of Farmers' Deputies. Kork participated in the founding 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 ...

Otepää Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer ca ...

and

Valga County Valga County ( et, Valga maakond or ''Valgamaa'') is a first-level administrative unit and one of 15 counties of Estonia. It comprises the former area of Valga District. The present-day county was created on 1 January 1990. The capital and larg ...

. During the occupation of Estonia by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, he was one of the keepers of the secret of the first

Estonian flag The flag of Estonia ( et, Eesti lipp) is a tricolour featuring three equal horizontal bands of blue (top), black (middle), and white (bottom). In Estonian it is colloquially called the (). The tricolour was already in wide use as the symbol of ...

's hiding place.

Awards

* 2002: 5th Class of the Estonian Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 23 February 2002) * 2006: 3rd Class of the Estonian Order of the National Coat of Arms (received 23 February 2006)

Personal life

Kork's siblings are doctor and politician

Andres Kork Andres Kork (born on 15 April 1950 in Tallinn) is an Estonian surgeon and politician. He was a member of X Riigikogu X Riigikogu was the tenth legislature of Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the st ...

, politician and businessman

Toomas Kork Toomas Kork (born 20 November 1945, Tartu) is an Estonian social activist, farmer, businessman, and politician, most notable for voting for the Estonian restoration of Independence. Kork graduated in 1970 from the Faculty of Economic at the Esto ...

, and nurse and psychiatrist Anu Kasmel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kork, Juri 1947 births Living people Politicians from Tartu Voters of the Estonian restoration of Independence University of Tartu alumni 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 politicians