Jaak Aab (born 9 April 1960) is an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...

politician of the Centre Party who has served as Minister of Education and Research and three times as the Minister of Public Administration from 2017 to 2018, from 2019 to 2020 and from 2011 to 2022 and as the

Minister of Social Affairs (Estonia) The Ministry of Social Affairs of Estonia ( et, Eesti Sotsiaalministeerium) is a government ministry of Estonia responsible for social policies of the country. List of Ministers The position first appeared in the government of Mart Laar esta ...

from 2005 to 2007.

Life

Jaak Aab attended school in Ala (

Helme Parish ) , leader_name = Tarmo Tamm , area_total_km2 = 312.73 , population_total = 2525 , population_as_of = 01.01.2009 , population_density_km2 = auto , website www.helme.ee Helme Parish ( et, ...

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 lar ...

) and in

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

. After graduating from high school in 1978, he studied to become a teacher in

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

from 1978 to 1986 at the Pedagogical Institute in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

(''Tallinna Pedagoogiline Instituut'', today known as the

University of Tallinn Tallinn University (TLU; et, Tallinna Ülikool, ''TLÜ'') is a public research university in Estonia. Located in the centre of Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia, Tallinn University is one of the three largest institutions of higher educatio ...

). From 1984 to 1991, he was active as a teacher in Ala and Võhma. From 1991 to 1994, Aab worked in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...

. Upon returning to Estonia, Aab started working in politics. From November 1994 to January 1996, he served as a senior mayor of the city of Võhma. From August 1998 to February 2002, Aab held the office of senior mayor. From February 2002 to March 2003, Aab was the representative in the Estonian Parliament (

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 Just ...

). From July 2003 to April 2005, he was the executive director of th
Association of Estonian Cities and Muncipilaties
(''Eesti Linnade ja Valdade Liit''), before Prime Minister

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 ...

appointed him to his

cabinet Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to: Furniture * Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers * Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets * Filin ...

in 2005. From 13 April 2005 to 5 April 2007, Jaak Aab was the Minister of Social Affairs of the Republic of Estonia. Since April 2007, Aab has been a representative of the Estonian Parliament and acting chairman of the Social Committee.

Personal life

Jaak Aab was married to teacher Kaie Aab (born 1958). The couple had two daughters. Since 2020 is married to Marian Aab (née Kullerkupp).

References

External links

* Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs
short biography
1960 births Living people People from Tõrva Parish Estonian Centre Party politicians Education and Research ministers of Estonia Social affairs ministers of Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 1999–2003 Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 Mayors of places in Estonia Tallinn University alumni {{Estonia-politician-stub