Hanno Pevkur (born 2 April 1977) 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 ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

who is currently the

Minister of Defence A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

. He is the former chairman of the Estonian Reform Party. He has served as the Minister of Social Affairs from 2009 to 2012, as the

Minister of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

from 2012 to 2014 and as the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

from 2014 to 2016.

Early life

Pevkur graduated from Järva-Jaani Secondary School and studied law at the Tallinn School of Economics, and at 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 ...

. Until 2000, Pevkur worked as a lawyer.

Political career

From 2000 to 2005, Pevkur worked in the

Nõmme Nõmme (Estonian for ''"Heath"'') is one of the 8 administrative districts ( et, linnaosa) of Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 39,422 () and covers an area of , population density is . The district is largely a middle-clas ...

City District Government, first as Administrative Secretary and later as Head of City District. From 2005 to 2007, he was on the

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 '' ...

City Council and served as an adviser to the

. From 2007 to 2009, Pevkur was a member of the 11th

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 ...

and also a member of the Nõmme Administrative Council. On 23 February 2009, Pevkur replaced

Maret Maripuu Maret Maripuu (born 16 July 1974 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician, a member of the Reform Party. From April 2007 until February 2009 she served as Minister of Social Affairs. Previously, she was a member of the Riigikogu The Riig ...

as the Minister of Social Affairs, after Maripuu decided to step down due to a scandal caused by the Ministry's inability to ensure home delivery of pensions and timely welfare payments. 10 December 2012, Pevkur was appointed as the Minister of Justice. From 2014 to 2016, Pevkur was the

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 ...

' first and second cabinets. On 23 October 2017, Pevkur was elected as a deputy speaker of the Riigikogu to replace

, who had resigned following a sexual harassment scandal. On 13 December 2017, Pevkur announced that he would not run for the chairmanship of the Reform Party anymore in January 2018.

Personal life

Hanno Pevkur is married and has two children – a son and a daughter.Hanno Pevkur's biography on his official homepage
/ref> In addition to his native Estonian, he speaks

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

and

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

References

External links

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Pevkur, Hanno 1977 births Living people People from Alutaguse Parish Estonian Reform Party politicians Government ministers of Estonia Ministers of the Interior of Estonia Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019 Members of the Riigikogu, 2019–2023 21st-century Estonian politicians University of Tartu alumni Members of the Riigikogu, 2007–2011 Members of the Riigikogu, 2011–2015