Boris Kumm ( – 21 November 1958) was an

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

politician.

Biography

Kumm was born in Pärnu. From 1919 until 1920, he participated in 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 westwa ...

. In 1923, he joined the

Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, abbreviated EKP) was a subdivision of the Soviet communist party which in 1920-1940 operated illegally in Estonia and, after the 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia by the ...

(EKP), and was elected to the Riigikogu, the Estonian parliament. After the EKP was banned in 1924, Kumm was arrested and sentenced to 15 years' hard labour. He was released in 1938. In 1938–1940 he organized the local EKP in Pärnu. In 1940, Estonia was occupied by the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. Kumm served as People's Commissar for Internal Affairs of the

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

in 1940–1941 and People's Commissar for State Security of the Estonian SSR in 1941. When

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

occupied Estonia in 1941, Kumm fled to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

, where he continued working for the People's Commissariat for State Security. He returned to Estonia after the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...

liberated it from German occupation in 1944. In 1945, Kumm was appointed

major general Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

of the Red Army. Kumm again served as People's Commissar for State Security of the Estonian SSR in 1944–1950 (after 1946 as Minister for State Security). He was also a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

of the Communist Party of Estonia 1940–1951 and a member of the

Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union The Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Верховный Совет Союза Советских Социалистических Республик, r=Verkhovnyy Sovet Soyuza Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respubl ...

1941–1950. Kumm was awarded the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...

in 1943,

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

in 1945 and 1949 and the

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War (russian: Орден Отечественной войны, Orden Otechestvennoy voiny) is a Soviet military decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to partisan ...

(1st class) in 1946. He died in

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 ' ...

Sources

Biography
(in Russian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumm, Boris 1897 births 1958 deaths Politicians from Pärnu People from Kreis Pernau Workers' United Front politicians Communist Party of Estonia politicians People's commissars and ministers of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Members of the Riigikogu, 1923–1926 First convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Second convocation members of the Soviet of Nationalities Soviet major generals Prisoners and detainees of Estonia Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Recipients of the Order of the Red Star Burials at Metsakalmistu