Famous People From Estonia

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Updated June 9, 2017999 items

List of famous people from Estonia, including photos when available. The people below are listed by their popularity, so the most recognizable names are at the top of the list. Some of the people below are celebrities born in Estonia, while others are simply notable locals. If you're from Estonia you might already know that these prominent figures are also from your hometown, but some of the names below may really surprise you. This list includes people who were born and raised in Estonia, as well as those who were born there but moved away at a young age.

People include everything from Richard Maack to Meelis Rooba.

If you want to answer the questions, "Which famous people are from Estonia?" or "Which celebrities were born in Estonia?" then this list is a great resource for you.
Ranked by
  • Arvo Pรคrt
    • Birthplace: Paide, Estonia
    Arvo Pรคrt (Estonian pronunciation: [หˆษ‘rvo หˆpรฆrt]; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of classical and religious music. Since the late 1970s, Pรคrt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-invented compositional technique, tintinnabuli. Pรคrt's music is in part inspired by Gregorian chant. His most performed works include Fratres (1977), Spiegel im Spiegel (1978), and Fรผr Alina (1976). Since 2011 Pรคrt has been the most performed living composer in the world.
  • Alfred Rosenberg

    Alfred Rosenberg

    Dec. at 53 (1893-1946)
    • Birthplace: Tallinn, Estonia
    Alfred Ernst Rosenberg was a Baltic German philosopher and an influential ideologue of the Nazi Party. Rosenberg was first introduced to Adolf Hitler by Dietrich Eckart; he later held several important posts in the Nazi government. He is considered one of the main authors of key Nazi ideological creeds, including its racial theory, persecution of the Jews, Lebensraum, abrogation of the Treaty of Versailles, and opposition to "degenerate" modern art. He is known for his rejection of Christianity, having played an important role in the development of Positive Christianity. At Nuremberg he was sentenced to death and executed by hanging as a war criminal and for crimes against humanity.
  • Peeter Kรผmmel
    • Birthplace: Tartu, Estonia
    Peter Kuemmel is a cross-country skier.
  • Erki Nool

    Erki Nool

    Age: 53
    • Birthplace: Vรตru, Estonia
    Erki Nool (born 25 June 1970 in Vรตru, Estonia) is an Estonian decathlete and politician.
  • Alar Toomre
    • Birthplace: Rakvere, Estonia
    Alar Toomre (born 5 February 1937, in Rakvere) is an American astronomer and mathematician. He is a professor of applied mathematics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Toomre's research is focused on the dynamics of galaxies.
  • Wolfgang Kรถhler

    Wolfgang Kรถhler

    Dec. at 80 (1887-1967)
    • Birthplace: Tallinn, Estonia
    Wolfgang Kรถhler (21 January 1887 โ€“ 11 June 1967) was a German psychologist and phenomenologist who, like Max Wertheimer and Kurt Koffka, contributed to the creation of Gestalt psychology. During the Nazi regime in Germany, he protested against the dismissal of Jewish professors from universities, as well as the requirement that professors give a Nazi salute at the beginning of their classes. In 1935 he left the country for the United States, where Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania offered him a professorship. He taught with its faculty for 20 years, and did continuing research. A Review of General Psychology survey, published in 2002, ranked Kรถhler as the 50th most cited psychologist of the 20th century.