Peeter Siegfried Nikolaus Põld (12 July 1878 Puru,

Wierland County Wierland County (german: Kreis Wierland, german: Wierlandische Kreis, et, Viru kreis, russian: Vezenbergsky uyezd, russian: Virlyandsky uyezd) was one of the four counties of the Russian Empire located in the Governorate of Estonia. It was situat ...

– 1 September 1930) 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 pedagogic scientist, school director and politician (member of the

Estonian People's Party The Estonian People's Party ( et, Eesti Rahvaerakond, ER) was a centre-right political party in Estonia. History The party was established in March 1919 by a merger of the Estonian Democratic Party and the Estonian Radical Democratic Party.Vin ...

), and the first Estonian Minister of Education. He was born in Puru,

Kreis Wierland Wierland County (german: Kreis Wierland, german: Wierlandische Kreis, et, Viru kreis, russian: Vezenbergsky uyezd, russian: Virlyandsky uyezd) was one of the four counties of the Russian Empire located in the Governorate of Estonia. It was situat ...

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 the ...

. As curator 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 ...

(1918–1925), he oversaw the university's transition to the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160, ...

in the newly independent country.

References

1878 births 1930 deaths People from Jõhvi Parish People from Kreis Wierland Estonian People's Party politicians Education ministers of Estonia Members of the Estonian Provincial Assembly Members of the Estonian Constituent Assembly Members of the Riigikogu, 1920–1923 Members of the Riigikogu, 1926–1929 Members of the Riigikogu, 1929–1932 20th-century Estonian educators University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu {{Estonia-politician-stub