KP17
EST:
Maja, kus elas professor Vilma Kelder (Tiigi 13, https://maps.app.goo.gl/geENSxxPHJSJo7Gw9)
Esimene naine, kes sai ülikoolis õigusteaduse alal doktorikraadi, oli hilisem kolhoosiõiguse professor Vilma Kelder (1927–2000). Kolhoosiõigust käsitlesid ka tema väitekirjad: 1954. aastal kaitstud kandidaaditöö ja 1969. aastal valminud doktoritöö, niisamuti tema loodud arvukad õppematerjalid.
Professor Kelder oli 1970.–1980. aastatel – st peaaegu 20 aastat – Tartu Ülikooli tsiviilõiguse ja ‑protsessi kateedri juhataja ning juhatas Nõukogude aja lõpus lühikest aega ka riigi ja õiguse teooria ja ajaloo kateedrit. Nagu tollal tavaline ja eriti õigusteaduskonna õppejõudude seas levinud, täitis ta palju partei- ja ühiskondlikke ameteid. Üliõpilased pidasid temast lugu – daam oli range ja otsekohene. Ahelsuitsetajana olevat ta sel ajal, kui veel lubati, suitsetanud paberosse ka eksamit vastu võttes. Kui tudeng vastamisel eksis, olevat professor rämeda häälega naerma hakanud ja kustutanud oma paberossi eriti kõrge käekaarega.
Vilmal endal peret ega lapsi ei olnud, aga ta toetas väga oma juhendatavaid, nooremaid õppejõude. Tollal kirjutasid paljud oma väitekirjade mustandid käsitsi ja need tuli oskajal masinakirjutajal kirjutusmasinal ümber lüüa. Professor Kelder maksis selle töö oma juhendatavate eest kinni. Hilisem tsiviilõiguse professor, Eesti Vabariigi justiitsminister ja vandeadvokaat Paul Varul oli üks neist, kelle eest Vilma Kelder omal ajal hoolt kandis ja kes tänutäheks hoolitses selle eest, et Vilma Keldri kodu saaks tähistatud mälestustahvliga.
Vt ka Valter Haamer (1987). Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli õppe- ja teaduskoosseisu biobibliograafianimestik, 1944–1980, 436–437.
Vilma Kelder (autor teadmata, 1973)
Tartu Ülikooli raamatukogu, https://dspace.ut.ee/items/dfdda34a-109e-4536-8f57-719f8de623cc.
Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli nõukogu. Viimases reas vasakult neljas Vilma Kelder (autor Eduard Sakk, 1980)
Rahvusarhiiv, https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=394129&_xr=699f287edcb13.
Eesti NSV Naistenõukogu istung Tartu raekoja saalis. Paremalt esimene Vilma Kelder (autor Kaljo Raud, 1983)
Rahvusarhiiv, https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=331205&_xr=699f287edcb13.
ENG:
House where Professor Vilma Kelder lived (Tiigi 13, https://maps.app.goo.gl/geENSxxPHJSJo7Gw9)
The first woman to defend a doctoral degree in law at the university was Vilma Kelder (1927–2000), who later became Professor of Collective Farm Law. Collective farm law was also the subject of her dissertations: her Candidate of Sciences dissertation defended in 1954 and her doctoral dissertation completed in 1969, as well as the numerous teaching materials she produced.
In the 1970s and 1980s – that is, for almost twenty years – Professor Kelder served as head of the Chair of Civil Law and Procedure at the University of Tartu, and towards the end of the Soviet period, she also briefly headed the Chair of the Theory and History of State and Law. As was common at the time, especially among teaching staff members of the Faculty of Law, she held many political party and public positions. Students respected her – she was a strict and forthright lady. A chain-smoker, she was said to have smoked cigarettes, back when it was still allowed, even during students’ exams. If a student made a mistake during an oral exam, the professor would reportedly burst into loud laughter and stub out her cigarette with a particularly exaggerated swing of the arm.
Vilma herself had neither a family nor children, but she was very supportive of those she supervised, the younger members of the academic staff. At the time, drafts of dissertations were mostly written by hand and had to be typed by a skilled typist on a typewriter. Professor Kelder paid for this work on behalf of her supervisees. One of those she supported was Paul Varul, later Professor of Civil Law, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Estonia and an attorney-at-law. In gratitude, he ensured that Vilma Kelder’s home was later marked with a commemorative plaque.
See also: Valter Haamer (1987). Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli õppe- ja teaduskoosseisu biobibliograafianimestik, 1944–1980, 436–437.
Vilma Kelder (author unknown, 1973)
University of Tartu Library, https://utlib.ut.ee/en/services-library-users-special-needs
Council of Tartu State University. Vilma Kelder is in the last row, fourth from the left (author Eduard Sakk, 1980)
National Archives of Estonia, https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=394129&_xr=699f287edcb13.
Session of the Women’s Council of the Estonian SSR in the hall of Tartu Town Hall. Vilma Kelder is the first from the right (author Kaljo Raud, 1983)
National Archives of Estonia, https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=260519&_xr=69920a3fad3f8.