An Estonian legal scholar who challenged the Soviet official narrative in the language of law
On the Yakovlev commission, he argued that the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic was legally null and void.
Igor Gräzin is an Estonian legal scholar and politician whose work has ranged across legal theory, philosophy of law, and comparative jurisprudence. Elected to the Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union in 1989, he served on the Yakovlev commission examining the secret protocols and the legal meaning of the Baltic states' incorporation. His intervention brought legal expertise into the political struggle over sovereignty and historical memory during the Soviet Union's final crisis.
Career Timeline
- 1952Born in Tartu
- 1975Graduated in law from Tartu State University
- 1979–1987Researched law at Soviet state and law institutions and earned a doctorate
- 1988–1989Headed the law department of the Estonian Academy of Sciences Institute of Philosophy, Sociology and Law
- 1989–1991Member of the Congress of People's Deputies and the Yakovlev commission
- 1990–2000Professor and researcher at the University of Notre Dame
- 2005–2018Member of the Estonian Riigikogu
- 2018–2019Member of the European Parliament