August Torma (born ''August Schmidt''; 19 February 1895 – 12 March 1971) was an Estonian military officer, minister and diplomat. A veteran of the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

, Torma was awarded the

Order of the Cross of the Eagle The Order of the Cross of the Eagle ( et, Kotkaristi teenetemärk; french: Ordre de la Croix de l'Aigle) was instituted in 1928 by the Estonian Defence League to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Estonian independence. It was adopted as a st ...

, 1st Class, in 1936.

Early life

August Torma was educated at

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter t ...

, then attended Vladimir Military Academy.

Military career

Torma was mobilized into the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and served as an officer. He was seriously injured in Galicia in 1917 and subsequently became a prisoner of war in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. He eventually returned to Estonia in 1918 after a prisoner exchange via Denmark. Torma was attached to the British expeditionary force as the Estonian representative during the

North Russia Campaign The North Russia intervention, also known as the Northern Russian expedition, the Archangel campaign, and the Murman deployment, was part of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War after the October Revolution. The intervention brought ...

, serving in the area of intelligence. He subsequently formed a force of some 200 Estonian soldiers attached to the French expeditionary corps.

Diplomatic career

After the war Torma was the military attaché in Lithuania from 1919, then was appointed the chargé d'affaires in 1921. He returned to

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

and was appointed the director Foreign Ministry political department, from 1927 to 1931 he was the assistant foreign minister. In 1931 he became the envoy to Italy and Switzerland until 1934 and was permanent representative to the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

between 1931 and 1939. From 1934 he was the envoy of Estonia in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

until his death in 1971. August Torma was also responsible for the founding of the Estonian Lutheran Church congregation in London.

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torma, August 1895 births 1971 deaths Envoys of Estonia Baltic diplomatic missions Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I