Toomas Kork (born 20 November 1945,

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 social activist, farmer, businessman, and 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 in 1970 from the Faculty of Economic at the

Estonian University of Life Sciences The Estonian University of Life Sciences ( Estonian: ''Eesti Maaülikool'', EMÜ) located in Tartu, Estonia, is the former Estonian Agricultural University, which was established in 1951 and renamed and restructured in November 2005. Eesti Maa� ...

(EPA). From 1971 to 1975, he was an EPA Laboratory Head and then until 1988 was Deputy Director and Director of the Tamsalu Cereal Product Combine. From 1988 to 1989, he was the first secretary of the Rakvere Regional Committee of the

Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, abbreviated EKP) was a subdivision of the Soviet communist party which in 1920-1940 operated illegally in Estonia and, after the 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia by the ...

. Kork was a member 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 ...

's Initiative Center and council, the head of

Rakvere Rakvere is a town in northern Estonia and the administrative centre of the Lääne-Viru ''maakond'' (county), 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. Rakvere is the 8th most populous urban area in Estonia. Rakvere has a tota ...

branch of the Popular Front of Estonia, and a member of the Supreme Soviet of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

and the Baltic Assembly. He participated in the preparation and adoption of the Declaration of Sovereignty on 15 and 16 November 1988. He was in charge of drafting the draft of the Alternative Service Act, and then, until the formation of the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, he was chairman of the relevant government committee. He actively participated in the creation of Estonian Civil Protection, Border Guard and Police. Kork was one of the 69 members of the Supreme Council that voted for restoration of the independence of the Republic of Estonia. Kork later worked at the office of

Arnold Rüütel Arnold Rüütel OIH () (born 10 May 1928) is an Estonian politician and agricultural scientist. He has served as the last chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 8 April 1983 to 29 March 1990, Chairman of the Su ...

, became the Director General of Rakvere KIT (Commercial Inventory Factory, later named AS ETK Sisustus), and, until retirement, was Chairman of the Management Board of AS Porsa Est.

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) * 2010: Baltic Assembly Medal of Merit * 2001: "Ilves ja mõõk", EV Border Guard Order * 2001: "10 aastat taastatud piirivalvet", commemorative medal * 2001: "10 aastat taastatud kaitseväge", commemorative medal * 2014: "20 aastat vene vägede lahkumisest", commemorative medal

Personal life

His brother,

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 ...

, is a doctor who was the Minister of Health under

Tiit Vähi Tiit Vähi (born 10 January 1947) is an Estonian politician who was Prime Minister of Estonia from 1995 to 1997. He was also acting Prime Minister for several months during 1992 under the transitional government. Life and career Born in Kaagjä ...

, as well as the chairman of the Tallinn City Council and the President of the Estonian Association of Doctors. Another brother,

Jüri Kork Jüri Kork (born 3 August 1947, Tartu) is an Estonian politician, most notable for voting for the Estonian restoration of Independence. Kork graduated from Tsirguliina High School in 1966 and the Department of Physical Education from the Universi ...

, was also in politics, and was also a member of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR who voted for the Estonian restoration of Independence. His sister, Anu Kasmel, is a psychiatrist and health scientist. During the Soviet occupation, the Kork family kept the secrecy of the first, blue-and-white flag, completed in 1884. In 1991, an unidentified flag was uncovered at the farmhouse of their uncle's farm and was handed over to the Estonian Students' Society.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kork, Toomas 1945 births Living people Voters of the Estonian restoration of Independence Politicians from Tartu Estonian University of Life Sciences 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