Mart Helme

Mart Helme (, born 31 October 1949) is an Estonian politician, diplomat and musician who served as the Minister of the Interior from 2019 to 2020. He was the long time chairman of the national conservative Conservative People's Party of Estonia (EKRE) from 13 April 2013 to 4 July 2020 when he was succeeded by his son Martin Helme. Helme also served as Estonia's ambassador to Russia from 1995 to 1999. Some media outlets have described him as a right-wing populist. Early life Mart Helme was born on 31 October 1949 in Pärnu. His younger brother was politician Rein Helme. After graduating from high school in Pärnu in 1968, he studied history at the University of Tartu and graduated in 1973. He was the editor of the Estonian translation of "The Communist Manifesto" by Karl Marx published in 1974.