Indrek Saar
Indrek Saar (born 20 February 1973) is an Estonian actor and politician. He led the Social Democratic Party from 2019 to 2022 and was Estonia’s Minister of Culture from 2015 to 2019.
He was born in Kuressaare and studied acting at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. Saar worked as an actor and director at Rakvere Theatre (1996–2005) and led Theatre NO99 (advisor in 2004–2005, CEO 2006–2007). He was first elected to the Riigikogu in 2007 and also served after the elections of 2011, 2015 and 2019.
In politics, Saar has held several roles in the Social Democratic Party, including deputy chair of the Rakvere municipal council (2002–2007), secretary general (2011–2015) and chairman (2019–2022). As culture minister, he raised wages for culture and sports workers and reformed sports funding. He also led Estonia’s cultural discussions during its 2017 EU presidency and helped advance the Audiovisual Media Services Directive.
Saar is married to actress Ülle Lichtfeldt and they have two daughters. He speaks Estonian, English, Danish and Russian.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 22:45 (CET).