Ieva Ilvesa

Born

1977-09-13

Birthplace

Riga, Latvian SSR, USSR [now Latvia]

Biography

Ieva Ilvesa (Estonian: Ieva Ilves, née Ieva Kupče; born September 13, 1977) is a Latvian diplomat, politician and cyber security policy expert, and former First Lady of Estonia. Ilvesa ran as a Latvian candidate for the 2019 European Parliament election. She was the third place candidate for Development/For!, second on the list was Baiba Rubesa, the former CEO of Rail Baltica. She has worked as the head of unit for National Cyber Security Policy and Political Advisor to the State Secretary at the Ministry of Defence of Latvia. She is founding member of different non-governmental organizations institutions focusing on the issues of security, democracy, and human rights. In 2016, she married President of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves and served as First Lady of Estonia until the end of his term in October 2016; their marriage ended in divorce in 2023.