Mihkel Veiderma

Mihkel Veiderma (27 December 1929 – 25 October 2018) was an Estonian chemist and academic whose work focused on inorganic chemistry, especially the chemistry and technology of phosphorus compounds, apatites, phosphorite and related mineral resources. He spent most of his career at Tallinn University of Technology, became a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences in 1975, and later served as the academy's vice-president, secretary-general and board member. From 1992 to 1994 he was director of the Office of the President of Estonia. He began his schooling at J. Westholm Gymnasium and graduated from Tallinn Secondary School of Science in 1948 with a gold medal. He then moved to Tallinn Polytechnic Institute, where he served as associate professor of chemical technology, scientific supervisor of the Laboratory of Mineral Fertilisers, professor and head of the Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, and dean of the chemistry faculty. He became professor emeritus in 1997.

An external evaluation of Estonian chemistry research published in 2001 described the Veiderma–Kuusik group as having achieved notable results in sulphur dioxide removal from fuel gases, thermogravimetric analysis of apatite at high temperatures, infrared analysis of transition-metal-doped apatite structures, and the use of apatite as a sorbent for hazardous metals. The present-day Laboratory of Inorganic Materials at Tallinn University of Technology traces its origins to the Laboratory of Mineral Fertilizers that Veiderma established in 1965.

He was also active in research and public discussion concerning Estonia's mineral resources and energy policy, particularly phosphorite and oil shale. Tallinn University of Technology awarded him its Mente et Manu medal in 2008.

Selected works Eestile mõeldes. Vabariigi Presidendi Akadeemiline Nõukogu 1994–2001 (editor/compiler, 2001). Tagasivaade eluteele (2009). With Kaia Tõnsuaadu, Kārlis Agris Gross and Liene Plūduma, A review on the thermal stability of calcium apatites (2012).

Veiderma died in Tallinn on 25 October 2018.