Arnold Rüütel

Arnold Rüütel (IPA: ; UPA: rüütel) (born May 10, 1928) is the current President of the Republic of Estonia. He was elected President on September 21, 2001 and is Estonia's second President since the country regained its independence in 1991.

Rüütel was born on the island of Saaremaa. He graduated from Jäneda Agricultural College in 1949, and worked as a senior agronomist for the Department of Agriculture of Saaremaa (1949-1950) and as a teacher of agriculture at the Tartu School of Mechanization of Agriculture from 1955 to 1957.

In 1957, he was appointed as head expert of livestock and director of the experimental farm of the Estonian Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Institute, and in 1963 he was appointed as Director of Tartu Model Sovkhoz, a position he held until 1969. At the same time, he graduated from the Estonian Academy of Agriculture in 1964, obtaining higher education, and gained the qualification of Candidate of Agricultural Sciences in 1972.

From 1969 to 1977, Arnold Rüütel was Rector of the Estonian Academy of Agriculture. From 1977 onwards, he held high office in the Communist institutions of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. In 1983, he was appointed as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council (Head of State) of the Estonian SSR. He played a major part in the preparation and composition of the Estonian declaration of sovereignty that was adopted by the Supreme Soviet on November 16, 1988.

In March, 1990, he was elected as Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Estonia. Under his leadership, the Supreme Council declared Estonia independent on August 20, 1991. He continued in office until October 1992. Rüütel was also a member of the Constitutional Assembly from 1991 to 1992, which drafted the new Constitution of the Republic of Estonia. He stood as a candidate in the first presidential election in 1992 and received 43% of the vote, losing to Lennart Meri.

In 1991, Rüütel took his Doctorate in agriculture. He served as Chairman of the People's Union of Estonia from 1994 to 2000, and was elected as a member of the Estonian Parliament, the Riigikogu, in 1995, where he acted as Vice-Chairman until 1997. He ran for President in the 1996 election and lost to Meri once again.

He was elected President by an electoral college on September 21, 2001, defeating Toomas Savi in the final round. Rüütel was inaugurated as President of the Republic on October 8, 2001.

In January 2006, a scandal broke up when Estonian Television reported that Rüütel's underage granddaughters had organised a party in the presidential palace. ^*

Rüütel's term will end in October 2006. On the 7th of June 2006 he ended speculations about his possible candidature, saying that he will candidate for the second term. ^* Rüütel's candidature has raised some concerns, as he will be 78 in May, and has performed some 'slips' (attributed to his age), such as congratulating people on 'Victory Day' while the event was the Independence Day (February 24, 2005) (Estonians have their Victory Day in June).

Arnold Rüütel is married to Ingrid Rüütel (born November 3, 1935), a folklorist and ethnographer. They have two daughters.

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