Mihhail Kõlvart

Mihhail Kõlvart (born 24 November 1977) is an Estonian politician currently serving as the leader of the Centre Party since 2023.[1] He is the current mayor of Tallinn, Estonia, a position he has held since April 2019, after the resignation of Taavi Aas.[2]

Mihhail Kõlvart
Kõlvart in 2019
Leader of the Centre Party
Assumed office
10 September 2023
Preceded byJüri Ratas
Mayor of Tallinn
Assumed office
11 April 2019
Preceded byTaavi Aas
President of the Municipal Council of Tallinn
In office
3 November 2017 – 10 April 2019
Preceded byKalev Kallo
Succeeded byTiit Terik
Vice-Mayor of Tallinn
In office
9 April 2011 – 2 November 2017
Member of the Riigikogu
In office
March 2011 – April 2011
Personal details
Born (1977-11-24) 24 November 1977
Kyzylorda, Kazakh SSR, Soviet Union
NationalityEstonian
Political partyEstonian Centre Party (since 2009)
Other political
affiliations		Estonian Social Democratic Party (1998-2009)
Spouse
​
​
(m. 2022)​
ProfessionPolitician
Mihhail Kõlvart

Early life

Kõlvart was born in Kyzylorda, Kazakh SSR, to an Estonian father, Ülo Kõlvart, and Liidia Kõlvart (née Shek), who was of Chinese and Korean ancestry. The couple met while they were both studying at Moscow State University.[3][4] His father is the founder of the Estonian National Taekwondo Association in 1992 and was its first president from 1992 to 1996.[5] His mother was a teacher.[6] He moved with his parents to Estonia when he was three years old. Kõlvart has a daughter with Jaana Kalinistova.[7]

He graduated from Tallinn Secondary School No. 15 in 1995. He studied jurisprudence and later business law at the International College of Applied Social Sciences LEX in Tallinn.[8]

Athletic career

Kõlvart made a name for himself as a top athlete nationally and internationally in the disciplines of boxing, kickboxing and Taekwondo, of which he has a black belt in (5th dan). Starting in 1993, he worked in Tallinn as a Taekwondo coach.[5] In 1996, he was elected President of the Estonian National Taekwondo Association.[9] In 2016, he became a member of the Executive Committee of the Estonian Olympic Committee.[10] In 2017 was elected as a president of Estonian Taekwondo Federation. In 2022 obtained a honorary 7 dan from Kukkiwon.

Political career

From 1999 to 2002, Kõlvart was a member of the district council of the Lasnamäe district of Tallinn. In 2008, he joined the Estonian Centre Party. In 2009, he was elected to the Tallinn city council. He was particularly committed to youth and sport and the rights of ethnic minorities in Tallinn, and as such, has made him popular with the Russian-speaking minority of Tallinn.[10][11] He was elected to the Riigikogu in 2011, of which he was a member of until 2019. In April 2011, he resigned as a deputy mayor of Tallinn to serve in the Riigikogu. Later on, from 2017 to 2019, he was the chairman of the Tallinn City Council.[12] He resigned in April 2019, as he was elected mayor of Tallinn on 11 April after the resignation of mayor Taavi Aas to serve in the cabinet of Jüri Ratas.[2] On 30 September 2019, he was made an honorary citizen of Seoul, South Korea by Seoul's mayor Park Won-soon,[4] and in April 2022 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Shinhan University.

On 10 September 2023, Kõlvart was elected leader of the Estonian Centre Party at a special party conference in Paide. He received 543 votes (51.91%), defeating Tanel Kiik who received 489 votes (46.75%).[13]

References
  1. ERR (2023-09-10). "Keskerakonna uueks juhiks valiti Mihhail Kõlvart". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  2. "Gallery: Mihhail Kõlvart elected Tallinn Mayor". Eesti Rahvusringhääling. 11 April 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  3. "Kas teadsid, kes on suurima häältesaagi saanud Mihhail Kõlvart juurtelt?". Elu24 (in Estonian). 17 October 2017. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  4. "Tallinn mayor becomes honorary Seoul citizen". Yonhap News Agency. 30 September 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. "ESBL - KÕLVART, MIHHAIL" (in Estonian). ESBL. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  6. "Aukodanikud - Liidia Kõlvart" (in Estonian). City of Tallinn. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  7. https://bublik.delfi.ee/statja/63957797/pozdravlyaem-mihail-kylvart-stal-otcom
  8. "Linnapea Mihhail Kõlvart CV" (in Estonian). City of Tallinn. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  9. "Ambassador met the Chair of the Estonia-Korea Parliamentary Group". Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Finland. 11 May 2015. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  10. Raal, Kadi (11 April 2019). "FOTOD - Mihhail Kõlvart valiti Tallinna linnapeaks" (in Estonian). delfi.ee. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  11. Ots, Mait (12 March 2019). "Kaljulaid ERR-ile: enne lõhenegu Keskerakond, kui EKRE võimule aidatakse". ERR. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  12. "Kõlvart on EKRE's views: We cannot govern with their approach". ERR. 12 March 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  13. ERR (2023-09-10). "Keskerakonna uueks juhiks valiti Mihhail Kõlvart". ERR (in Estonian). Retrieved 2023-09-10.
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