Villem Maasik (1883–1919) was an Estonian lawyer, trade unionist and politician. Maasik was born in 1883 in

Vastseliina Vastseliina ( vro, Vahtsõliina) is a small borough (') in Võru Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. Vastseliina is the birthplace of wrestler and 1924 Olympic Gold Medalist Eduard Pütsep and writer and lawyer Uido Truija. See also * ...

Võru County Võru County ( et, Võru maakond or ''Võrumaa''; vro, Võro maakund) is a county in southern Estonia. It is bordered by Valga County and Põlva County and is the only Estonian county bordering two countries - Latvia ( Alūksne Municipality an ...

. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of the newly established Autonomous Governorate of Estonia, which sat between 14 July 1917 and 23 April 1919. During this time, he also sat in government; he was Head of the Labour Department from its inception on 2 August 1917, serving for the duration of

Jaan Raamot Jaan Raamot (9 August 1873, Avaste – 5 January 1927, Jäneda) was an Estonian agrarian personnel, politician, pedagogue. He was a member of Estonian Provincial Assembly The Estonian Provincial Assembly ( et, Eestimaa Kubermangu Ajutine Ma ...

's period as Chairman of the

Provincial Government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, ...

( et, Eesti Ajutine Maavalitsus). When

Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was an Estonian statesman and the country's president in 1938–1940. Päts was one of the most influential politicians of the independent democratic Republic of Estonia, and during the two decades prior ...

replaced Raamot on 25 October, he kept Maasik in his office, which he renamed "Head of the Labour and Welfare Department". On 24 February 1918, Maasik was then appointed

Minister of Labour and Welfare Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

in the first

Provisional Government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, or a transitional government, is an emergency governmental authority set up to manage a political transition generally in the cases of a newly formed state or ...

, again under Päts. In practice, the Germans occupied Estonia in late February 1918, forcing the government underground. After the German defeat in the

First World War 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 ...

, Päts' second government took office on 12 November 1918, but Maasik was not among them and did not return to government. He was executed on 3 September 1919 in

Izborsk Izborsk (russian: Избо́рск; et, Irboska; vro, Irbosk, Irbuska, label=Seto) is a rural locality (village) in Pechorsky District of Pskov Oblast, Russia. It contains one of the most ancient and impressive fortresses of Western Russia. ...

.Jaan Toomla,
Valitud ja Valitsenud: Eesti parlamentaarsete ja muude esinduskogude ning valitsuste isikkoosseis aastail 1917–1999
' (

National Library of Estonia The National Library of Estonia ( et, Eesti Rahvusraamatukogu) is a national public institution in Estonia, which operates pursuant to the National Library of Estonia Act (). It was established as the parliamentary library () of Estonia on Decembe ...

, 1999), pp. 23, 145, 146, 311."Estonia: History"
''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved 3 March 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maasik, Villem 1883 births 1919 deaths Estonian trade unionists 20th-century Estonian lawyers Members of the Estonian Provincial Assembly People from Võru Parish