Aadu Must was born in Pärnu on March 25, 1951. He graduated from Tartu School No. 7 (currently Karlova School) with a specialty in history in 1969, and cum laude with a degree in history from Tartu State University (currently University of Tartu) in 1976. That same year, he began teaching in the university's history department.

Must was the founding chair of archival studies at the University of Tartu, and served as a professor of the same up to his death.

Must had been a member of the Center Party since 1996. He had served as a member of the Congress of Estonia, the Committee of Estonia, and later as MP in the XI, XII, XIII and XIV Riigikogus.

He served for years as a member of Tartu City Council, including as council chair several times, and was also a member of the supervisory boards of Tartu University Hospital (TÜK) and the National Library of Estonia.

In 2005, the president of Estonia awarded Must the Order of the White Star, 4th Class.

Aadu Must was married and had four children.

'Sigil of the Center Party'

Commenting on the news of his death on Thursday, Center Party chair Jüri Ratas called Must a "brilliant person" and a "fighter for Estonia."

"It's very difficult to speak these words," Ratas said. "And my deepest condolences to Aadu's spouse and children, Aadu's loved ones and relatives, friends. And he had a lot of them. And this attests to his life meaningfully lived, which included a great deal of activity as a professor in the framework of international research, as a politician both at the state level but also in the City of Tartu as longtime chair of the city council. Aadu was a brilliant person. His visions of the future were always interwoven with interesting historical aspects and parallels. He was a strong fighter for Estonia. And speaking as a Center Party politician, one can of course safely say that Aadu Must is one of this party's very strong sigils in the best sense of the term."

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!