Ilmar Reepalu
| Ilmar Reepalu | |
|---|---|
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| 17th Mayor of Malmö Municipality | |
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In office 1 January 1995 – 1 July 2013 |
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| Preceded by | Joakim Ollén |
| Succeeded by | Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 11 October 1943 |
| Political party | Swedish Social Democratic Party |
IImar Reepalu (born 11 October 1943) is an Estonian-born Swedish Social Democrat politician who was the 17th chairman of the municipal board in Malmö from 1994 to 2013.
After a professional life as an urban planner in Borås and Malmö, he became a municipal commissioner of Malmö in 1985. In opposition from 1985 to 1994, he then served as chairman of the municipal board - a position similar to that of mayor - from the 1994 election until his retirement on 1 July 2013.
During his term as chairman of the municipal board, Reepalu was consistently lauded as being instrumental in the transformation of Malmö from an industrial town in decline towards being a centre of knowledge, modern architecture, culture and green technology. He also faced controversy during his term, including a surge in crime in the city, and accusations of antisemitism for comments he made in which he seemed to blame attacks on Jews in Malmö on their support for Israel.
Ilmar Reepalu was born on 11 October 1943 in Nõva, Reichskommissariat Ostland (now Estonia). In August 1944, his family fled the advancing Soviet forces in an open boat, heading towards neutral Sweden. Outside the island of Svenska Högarna their boat capsized, but they were saved by the patrolling Swedish Navy. He and the rest of his family was at first interned at a refugee camp at Medevi Brunn in the Motala Municipality and they could later establish themselves in the town of Motala, where Reepalu grew up.
Reepalu's political life started in 1958, when he as a student at the gymnasium was involved with starting the local branch of Social Democratic Youth League. After serving his draft time as a combat diver with the Coastal Rangers, he moved to Gothenburg where he took a degree in civil engineering (1968) and trained as an architect (1970), both at Chalmers University of Technology. During his time in Gothenburg, he was also involved in political groups that fought the proposed demolitions in the Haga district of Gothenburg.
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