Heinrich Mark (1 October 1911 – 2 August 2004) 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 ...

n politician and Prime Minister of the

Estonian Government in Exile The Estonian government-in-exile was the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1944 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1991 and 1992. It traced its l ...

. He was Prime Minister in duties of the President of the Republic of Estonia from 1 March 1990 to 6 October 1992, being the last Estonian head of state in exile, as Estonian independence was restored in 1991.

Life

Mark was one of four brothers: Adolf (1905–1947; died in a Siberian prison camp), Albert (1907–1945; killed as a

Forest Brother The Guerrilla war in the Baltic states was an armed struggle which was waged by the Latvian, Lithuanian, and Estonian partisans, called the Forest Brothers (also: the "Brothers of the Wood" and the "Forest Friars"; et, metsavennad, lv, me� ...

) and

Aksel :''See Kusaila for the 7th-century Berber leader.'' Aksel is a masculine name, used predominantly throughout Scandinavia, a variant of Axel. People with the name include: *Aksel Agerby (1889–1942), Danish composer, organist, and music admin ...

(1913–2014), who was an agronomist, journalist and Estonian Minister of the Interior in exile between 1962 and 1992. Mark studied in

Võru Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...

, graduated from the Teachers' Seminar of

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

. In 1933–1938 he studied at the legal department of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

. From 1938 to 1940, Mark was an elementary school teacher. In 1940 he served as

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

to the

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

P. Sepp in Tartu. In 1941–1943 he practiced as a solicitor in Tallinn. In 1940, after the occupation of Estonia, he was a secretary of

Tartu University The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

for a short period, but left on the recommendation of the rector Hans Kruus. In 1940, he was put up as a candidate for the ''

Riigivolikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Jus ...

'' elections as an alternative candidate to the Estonian Working People's Union, but was deleted from the list of candidates. He later hid in Estonia, escaped to

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 1943, and was one of the organisers of the Estonian Bureau (an Estonian exile organisation) and assistant to the Editor-in-Chief of the ''Malevlane'' (a newspaper of the Estonians in the Finnish Army). In 1944 Mark moved to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where he was an assistant at the National Committee of Foreigners. From 1945 to 1956, he was Chairman of the education working group of the Estonian Committee, 1954–1975 Director of the Bureau and assistant Chairman of the Estonian Committee, 1975–1982 Chairman of the Estonian Committee, and from 1982 onward served as Honorary Chairman of the Estonian Committee. From 1951 to 1979 he was also Secretary-General of the Estonian National Council.

Honours and decorations

In 1998, Mark was awarded the honorary Doctor of Law degree by Tartu University. Further, he was made an Honorary Member of the Estonian Literature Society, given the Golden Badge of the Estonian National Foundation, the I Class Gold Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, and the II Class

Order of the National Coat of Arms The Order of the National Coat of Arms ( et, Riigivapi teenetemärk, french: Ordre du Blason National) was instituted by Konstantin Päts on 7 October 1936 to commemorate 24 February 1918, the day on which Estonian independence was declared. The ...

of the Republic of Estonia.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mark, Heinrich 1911 births 2004 deaths People from Kanepi Parish People from Kreis Werro Presidents of Estonia Prime Ministers of Estonia Estonian anti-communists 20th-century Estonian politicians University of Tartu alumni Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 2nd Class

Life

Honours and decorations

See also

References