Head of the Estonian Workers' Commune and leader of the 1924 rising
He governed eastern Estonia as head of the Estonian Workers' Commune proclaimed at Narva in November 1918; arrested in 1937 during Stalin's Great Purge, he died on 11 December 1937 of injuries from a beating during interrogation.
Head of the Estonian Workers' Commune proclaimed at Narva in November 1918, he governed eastern Estonia for two months and organized the Tallinn rising of 1924. Arrested in 1937, he died under beating during interrogation.
Activities and affiliations
-
Soviet Communist Party and BolsheviksMain
Political and party leadership
Career Timeline
- 1905Schoolteacher who joined the Bolsheviks and entered revolutionary work
- 1912Editor of the workers' paper Kiir in Narva
- 1917Chairman of the Estonian Soviet executive committee; led the seizure of power in Tallinn
- 1918Chairman of the Council of the Estonian Labour Commune
- 1921Underground leader of the CP of Estonia; directed the December 1924 uprising
- 1926Political commissar of the Zhukovsky Air Force Academy
- 1929Deputy head, then head, of the civil air fleet main administration
- 1935Member and executive secretary of the Comintern International Control Commission
Related historical events
- 1905–1907The Revolution of 1905Bolshevik entering revolutionary workHe joined the Bolsheviks and entered revolutionary work in 1905.
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign InterventionLeader of the Commune of the Working People of EstoniaHead of the Estonian Workers' Commune proclaimed at Narva on 29 November 1918, he governed eastern Estonia for a little over two months and led the Commune until it dissolved in June 1919.
- 1918.11–1920.10Baltic wars of independence and border settlementsLeader of the Commune of the Working People of EstoniaHead of the Estonian Workers' Commune proclaimed at Narva on 29 November 1918, he governed eastern Estonia for a little over two months and led the Commune until it dissolved in June 1919.
- 1937–1938The Great PurgeArrested and beaten to death during the Great PurgeArrested during the Great Purge, he died on 11 December 1937 from injuries sustained in a beating during interrogation.
Revolution and independence wars
After studying law at St Petersburg University he ran the social democratic press in Narva, and in 1917, as chairman of the executive committee of Estonia's soviets, represented Bolshevik power in Estonia after the October Revolution. When the Red Army took Narva on 29 November 1918 he was proclaimed head of the Estonian Workers' Commune and governed eastern Estonia for a little over two months; the Commune's executions of hostages and requisitions were long used in the independent republic's anti-communist propaganda. After the Commune dissolved in 1919 he served as a Red Army political commissar, and from 1921 directed the underground Estonian party, organizing the Tallinn rising of 1 December 1924, which failed within hours. Back in the Soviet Union he worked for the Comintern executive and the aviation industry, was arrested in December 1937 and died under beating during interrogation.