Urve Tiidus ( Uussaar; born 6 June 1954) 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 by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

n politician, member of the Reform Party and former journalist. She was Minister of Culture in

Taavi Rõivas Taavi Rõivas (; born 26 September 1979) is a Estonian politician, former Prime Minister of Estonia from 2014 to 2016 and former leader of the Reform Party. Before his term as the Prime Minister, Rõivas was the Minister of Social Affairs fro ...

's first cabinet. She has been a member of

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 Jus ...

since 2011. Before that she served as the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Kuressaare Kuressaare () is a town on Saaremaa island in Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saaremaa Parish and the capital of Saare County. Kuressaare is the westernmost town in Estonia. The recorded population on 1 January 2018 was 13,276. Th ...

Early life

Urve Tiidus was born on 6 June 1954 in

Rapla Rapla (German: ''Rappel'') is a town in central Estonia, the capital of Rapla County and the centre of Rapla Parish. The oldest records date back to 1241 in the Danish Census Book, when it was said that it was a small village with 8 acres of ...

. She studied at Tallinn School No. 21 and graduated 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 ...

as an English philologist in 1977. After graduation, she started her career in television. She has also been a

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Aktuaalne kaamera Aktuaalne kaamera (abbreviated AK) is an Estonian television news program shown in Eesti Televisioon. They first broadcast on March 11, 1956, which makes AK the oldest continuously running television program in Estonia. Since October 1958, AK broad ...

, a popular Estonian evening news programme on

ETV ETV may stand for: Television * e.tv, a South African terrestrial television channel * Educational Television (Hong Kong), a television series * Educational television, the use of television in education * Enhanced TV, an interactive television ap ...

. She was a spokeswoman for the Estonian voting results at the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

s of 1994 and 1998. From 2005-2011, Urve Tiidus was the Mayor of

. From 1999-2001, Urve Tiidus served as the Director of the Kuressaare City Government's Department of Education and Culture. Urve Tiidus has worked for a long time in the field of journalism, working for Eesti Televisioon from 1977-1991 and from 1995-1999. During the period 2001-2005, she was a news anchor in the Kanal 2 news division.

Political career

President Toomas Hendrik Ilves named Urve Tiidus as the new Minister of Culture on the proposal of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. According to law, the Minister can begin performing her duties after taking the oath of office before the Riigikogu. Prior to assuming her position as Minister of Culture, Urve Tiidus served as a member of the Riigikogu’s European Union Affairs Committee and the Finance Committee.

Minister of Culture

On 4 December 2013 Urve Tiidus became

Minister of Culture A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizati ...

Andrus Ansip Andrus Ansip (; born 1 October 1956) is an Estonian politician, a member of the European Parliament, the former European Commissioner for Digital Single Market and Vice President of the European Commission, in office from 2014 until 2019. Previo ...

's government after

Rein Lang Rein Lang (born 4 July 1957) is an Estonian politician, a member of the Estonian Reform Party since 1995, and a diplomat. He was the Minister of Culture in Andrus Ansip's third cabinet until his resignation. Personal life Lang was born at Tartu ...

's resignation.

References

1954 births Living people People from Rapla Estonian Reform Party politicians Ministers of Culture of Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015 Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Mayors of Kuressaare Estonian journalists Estonian women journalists Estonian television personalities 21st-century Estonian politicians 21st-century Estonian women politicians Women members of the Riigikogu Women government ministers of Estonia Women mayors of places in Estonia University of Tartu alumni Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 {{estonia-bio-stub