Madis Aruja

Madis Aruja, born on 16 January 1936 in Kuigatsi in Otepää Parish and died on 12 March 1995 in Tallinn, was an Estonian conservationist, geographer and ski orienteer. He graduated from the Department of Geography of the University of Tartu in 1963 and worked in nature conservation and fish protection in the Estonian SSR, becoming Deputy Head of the Nature Protection Government in 1967. In 1980 he signed the Letter of 40 Intellectuals and lost his post. As an athlete he earned 10 gold, 5 silver and 2 bronze medals between 1959 and 1970 and in 1960 became the first Estonian champion in ski orienteering.