Mihkel Martna (17 September 1860

Veltsa Veltsa (german: Weltz) is a village in Lääneranna Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) References

Villages in Pärnu County Kreis Wiek {{Pärnu-geo-stub ...

parish, Paimpere – 23 May 1934

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 ' ...

) 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 journalist. Martna was born in

Kreis Wiek Wiek County (german: Kreis Wiek, german: Kreis Hapsal, et, Lääne kreis, russian: Viksky uyezd, russian: Gapsalsky uyezd) was one of the four counties of the Russian Empire located in the Governorate of Estonia. It was situated in the western pa ...

in the

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Governorate of Esthonia (Pre-reformed rus, Эстля́ндская губе́рнія, r=Estlyandskaya guberniya); et, Eestimaa kubermang was a governorate in the Baltic region, along with th ...

(in present-day

Pärnu County Pärnu County ( et, Pärnu maakond or ''Pärnumaa''; german: Kreis Pernau) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the south-western part of the country, on the coast of Gulf of Riga, and borders Lääne and Rapla counties to the nor ...

) and studied in a local village school. Thereafter, he worked as country labourer before going to Tallinn in order to become house painter. At this period, he became acquainted with the European workers' movement,

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

. As he was one of the first Estonians to be active in this field, he came to be called "the father of Estonian social democracy". As a young man, he was also active in Estonian national movement, publishing articles in

Postimees ''Postimees'' () is an Estonian daily newspaper established on 5 June 1857, by Johann Voldemar Jannsen. In 1891, it became the first daily newspaper in Estonia. Its current editor-in-chief is Priit Hõbemägi. The paper has approximately 250 ...

and Sakala and collecting folklore material. Mihkel Martna disseminated socialist ideas in Tallinn, at the end 1880s he lived in

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 ...

and tried to influence

student A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution. In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...

s there. He later came into conflict with Peeter Speek and other Tartu socialists and moved back to Tallinn. Martna took part in the

1905 Russian revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

and had to live in exile from 1906 to 1917 (mostly in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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 ...

). At the beginning of 1918, Martna, having become familiar with the life in independent Finland, decided to support and promote Estonia's independence. He soon formed together with fellow thinkers the

Estonian Socialist Workers' Party The Estonian Socialist Workers' Party ( et, Eesti Sotsialistlik Tööliste Partei, ''ESTP'') was a political party in Estonia. History The party was established in 1925 as a merger of the Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party and former me ...

(''Eesti Sotsiaaldemokraatiline Töölistepartei'') and became later the leader of the party's

left wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

. Martna also belonged to Estonia's foreign delegations. Together with

Jaan Tõnisson Jaan Tõnisson (; , – 1941?) was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920, as State Elder (head of state and government) from 1927 to 1928 and in 1933, and as Foreign Minister of Estonia from ...

and

Karl Menning Karl Menning (11 May 1874 in Tartu – 5 March 1941 in Tartu) was an Estonian theatre director, critic and diplomat. In 1902 he graduated from University of Tartu's department of religion. 1906-1914 he was the first theatre director of Vanemuin ...

, Martna formed the board of the foreign delegation and he was the first representative of Estonia in Germany (1919). Martna was member of the

Estonian Provincial Assembly The Estonian Provincial Assembly ( et, Eestimaa Kubermangu Ajutine Maanõukogu, (Ajutine) Maanõukogu, Eesti Maanõukogu, (Eesti) Maapäev) was elected after the February Revolution in 1917 as the national diet of the Autonomous Governorate of ...

, the

Estonian Constituent Assembly The Estonian Constituent Assembly ( et, Asutav Kogu) was elected on 5–7 April 1919, called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence. Estonian Constituent Assembly elections Activity The 120 members of t ...

and

Riigikogu 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 ...

(I to IV). 1929–1934 Martna was a vice-chairman of

. Martna was one of the central figures in determining the political life of the Republic of Estonia, he was also a leading theoretician of the Estonian Socialist Workers' Party. In 1919 he gained Socialist Workers' International's recognition of Estonia's independence.

Awards and recognitions

*Honorary doctor 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 ...

, 1930.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martna, Mihkel 1934 deaths 1860 births People from Lääneranna Parish People from Kreis Wiek Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Estonian Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Estonian Provincial Assembly Members of the Estonian Constituent Assembly Members of the Riigikogu, 1920–1923 Members of the Riigikogu, 1923–1926 Members of the Riigikogu, 1926–1929 Members of the Riigikogu, 1929–1932 Members of the Riigikogu, 1932–1934 Estonian journalists Burials at Metsakalmistu