Johannes Vares (pen name Barbarus or Vares-Barbarus – 29 November 1946) 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 and

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

poet, medical doctor, and politician. Vares was born in a farmer family in the village of Kiisa, near

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

. He received secondary education at Pärnu Gymnasium, and in 1910–1914 studied medicine at the University of Kyiv. Vares served as a military physician in

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 after that as a military physician for the Estonian Army during 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 ...

(1918–1920). He was awarded the Estonian Cross of Liberty for the participation. In the 1920s, Vares started working as a medical doctor in Pärnu. He subsequently became a well-known poet as well as a radical socialist, using the pen name Johannes Barbarus. When

troops

occupied ' (Norwegian: ') is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2 ...

Estonia in June 1940, Andrei Zhdanov forced president Konstantin Päts to appoint Vares as prime minister of a communist-dominated puppet government. Päts resigned in July 1940, and Vares formally took over most presidential duties. The puppet government declared Estonia a "

Soviet Socialist Republic The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were national-based administrative units of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( ...

" (SSR), and Vares remained nominal head of state for a few weeks more as chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR. He headed the delegation to Moscow on August 6 1940 that petitioned the

Stalinist Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory o ...

government to incorporate Estonia into the Soviet Union — an act that has tainted him as a traitor to the majority of Estonian people. On 12 September 1940, Vares became member of the Central Committee of 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 ...

, soon after the party had been merged into the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) of the USSR. Following the German invasion of Estonia in 1941, Vares fled to Soviet Russia, where he lived in exile from 1941 to 1944, until the Soviets reconquered Estonia. On 20 April 1944, the Electoral Committee of the Republic of Estonia (the institution specified in the Constitution for electing the Acting President of the Republic) held a clandestine meeting in Tallinn. The participants included

Jüri Uluots Jüri Uluots (13 January 1890 – 9 January 1945) was an Estonian prime minister, journalist, prominent attorney and distinguished Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu. Early life Uluots was born in Kirbla Parish ...

, the last Prime Minister of Estonia before the Soviet occupation, the substitute for Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

Johan Holberg Johan Holberg (20 February 1893 – 8 April 1978, Chicago) 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 Finla ...

, the chairman of the Chamber of Deputies

Otto Pukk Otto Pukk (29 November 1900 Loona, Saare County – 14 February 1951 Stockholm) was an Estonian politician and lawyer. He was a member of the Estonian National Assembly and III, V and VI Riigikogu VI Riigikogu was the sixth legislature of Esto ...

, the second deputy vice-chairman of the National Council

Alfred Maurer Alfred Maurer may refer to: * Alfred Henry Maurer (1868–1932), American modernist painter * Alfred Maurer (politician) Alfred Maurer (2 December 1888 Tallinn - 20 September 1954 Stockholm) was an Estonian politician. He was a member of I Riigik ...

, and State judge Mihkel Klaassen. The Committee declared Päts' appointment of Vares as Prime Minister had been illegal. Accordingly, it held that Uluots had assumed the President's duties from 21 June 1940 onwards. Since the end of the Soviet Union, Estonia has maintained that all laws passed by the Vares government were void, since the upper house of Parliament had been dissolved soon after the Soviet occupation and was never reconvened. The 1938 constitution required that all laws pass both chambers before being promulgated. This included the electoral law under which the blatantly rigged elections of 14–15 July 1940 were conducted. It was this election that produced the so-called " People's Riigikogu" which declared Estonia a Soviet republic and "requested" to join the Soviet Union. After returning to Estonia, Vares came under investigation by the Soviet

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

for his activities in the

(1918–1920). He committed suicide in presidential residence in

Kadriorg Kadriorg ( Estonian for ''" Catherine's Valley"'') is a subdistrict in the district of Kesklinn ("Midtown"), Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It has a population of 4,561 (). The subdistrict name derives from the Catherinethal, a Baroque palac ...

, Tallinn, in November 1946.

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External links

Johannes Vares at Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vares, Johannes 1890 births 1946 suicides People from Viljandi Parish People from Kreis Fellin Members of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Estonia Heads of state of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Prime Ministers of Estonia Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1940–1947 First convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Estonian male poets 20th-century Estonian poets Estonian military doctors Soviet military doctors Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv alumni Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 4th class Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Cross of Liberty (Estonia) Recipients of the Order of Lenin Suicides by firearm in Estonia Estonian politicians who committed suicide Soviet politicians who committed suicide People from Pärnu

See also

Citations and references

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