Toomas Frey (13 December 1937 – 23 September 2020) was 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 by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

geobotanist Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

and forest scientist. Frey was born in

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 ...

. He was also a political leader, with the Estonian Greens. When he was named Minister of the Environment in 1990, it was the first time a member of a green party reached a national position in an Eastern European government.Wolfgang Rudig (April 2002). "Between Ecotopia and disillusionment: Green parties in European government", ''Environment'' 44 (3): 20–33.

References

1937 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Estonian botanists Estonian ecologists People from Põltsamaa Forestry researchers Environment ministers of Estonia Estonian Greens politicians Estonian University of Life Sciences alumni Estonian University of Life Sciences faculty University of Tartu faculty Estonian foresters 21st-century Estonian botanists {{forestry-researcher-stub