August Rei VR III/1 ( – 29 March 1963) 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, the

Head of State A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

(''Riigivanem'') of

in 1928–1929, and the Prime Minister in duties of the President of Estonia in the

government in exile A government in exile (abbreviated as GiE) is a political group that claims to be a country or semi-sovereign state's legitimate government, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile us ...

in 1945–1963.

Early life and education

August Rei was born in Kurla, Pilistvere parish,

Kreis Fellin Kreis Fellin (''Viljandi kreis'', ''Феллинский уезд'') was one of the nine subdivisions of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northern part of the governorate (in present-day southern Estonia). I ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(now

Türi Parish Türi Parish ( et, Türi Vald) is a rural municipality in Järva County, Estonia. On 16 October 2005 Kabala Parish, Oisu Parish, Town of Türi and the former Türi Parish were united to form a new Türi Parish. On 2017 the parishes of Türi, K� ...

Järva County Järva County ( et, Järva maakond or ''Järvamaa''; german: Jerwen; la, Jervia) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is situated in the central part of the country and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Jõgeva County to the south-east, ...

). Rei studied in the

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 ...

Emperor Alexander High School (the former State High School of the Livonian Governorate), but graduated from the

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( rus, links=no, Великий Новгород, t=Great Newtown, p=vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət), also known as just Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the ol ...

State High School. In 1904–1905 and 1907–1911, studied law in the

St. Petersburg University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBU; russian: Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет) is a public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter t ...

Beginnings of political influence

In 1905–1907, Rei participated in the

Russian revolution of 1905 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 ...

. In 1906, he edited the underground paper ''Sotsiaaldemokraat'' (''

Social Democrat Social democracy is a Political philosophy, political, Social philosophy, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocati ...

'') in

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 ' ...

. Between 1912 and 1913, he was in compulsory army service. In 1913–1914 he worked as a lawyer in

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 ...

. In 1914–1917 Rei was an artillery officer 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 ...

at the Fort of St. Petersburg. In 1917 and 1918 he was in the

Estonian army The Estonian Land Forces ( et, Maavägi), unofficially referred to as the Estonian Army, is the name of the unified ground forces among the Estonian Defense Forces where it has an offensive military formation role. It is currently the largest ...

units (formed after the Second Russian Revolution in March 1917 by the initiative of Estonian politicians, who achieved the permission to concentrate the Estonian soldiers). He was the Assistant Chairman of the Supreme Committee of the Estonian military. In 1917 and 1919, he was the Editor-in-Chief of the paper ''Sotsiaaldemokraat''. Between 1927 and 1928 he was the editor of ''Rahva Sõna'' (''Word of the People''). Rei was one of the leaders of the moderate faction of Estonia's social democratic movement. Up to 1936 he also worked as a lawyer and defended

Ado Birk Ado Birk (; also known as ''Aadu Birk'', ''Aado Birk'' or ''Avdei Birk''; – 2 February 1942), was an Estonian politician who was the Estonian Prime Minister for three days, from 28 July 1920 to 30 July 1920. Biography Ado Birk was born i ...

in 1927. He received an Honorary Doctorate in Law from

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 ...

Career

* 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 ...

(''

Maapäev 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 ...

''): 1917–1919 * Minister of Labour and Social Welfare of the Provisional Government; Deputy Prime Minister; Acting Minister of Education: 1918–1919 * Chairman of the Constituent Assembly (Asutav Kogu): 1919–1920 * Head of the

n Delegation to the

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

n Border Committee: 1923–1925 * Speaker of the II

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 Just ...

; 1925–1926 * State Elder (Head of State): 4 December 1928 – 9 July 1929 * Minister of Foreign Affairs: 1932–1933 * Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs: 1936–1937 * Envoy to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

: 1938–1940 * Minister of Foreign Affairs in exile: 1944–1945 * Prime Minister in capacity of the President of the Republic in exile: 9 January 1945 – 29 March 1963

Literary interests

Rei wrote and translated socialist works and published

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based in the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobi ...

Awards

* 1920 – Cross of Liberty III/I * 1930 –

Order of the Cross of the Eagle The Order of the Cross of the Eagle ( et, Kotkaristi teenetemärk; french: Ordre de la Croix de l'Aigle) was instituted in 1928 by the Estonian Defence League to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Estonian independence. It was adopted as a st ...

Bibliography

* ''Sotsialdemokraatia taktika põhimõtted'' Tallinnas : Tööliste kirjastusühisus, 1921 (Narva : Kärner) * ''Have the Baltic countries voluntarily renounced their freedom : an exposé based on authentic documentary evidence'' by August Rei. New York : World Association of Estonians, 1944 * ''Have the small nations a right to freedom and independence?'' by August Rei. London : Boreas, 1946 * ''The drama of the Baltic peoples'' by August Rei; preface by

Eugene Lyons Eugene Lyons (July 1, 1898 – January 7, 1985) was an American journalist and writer. A fellow traveler of Communism in his younger years, Lyons became highly critical of the Soviet Union after several years there as a correspondent of United P ...

. Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1970 (Åbo : Sydvästkusten)

References

External links

''Estonian Government-in-Exile: a controversial project of state continuation'' by Vahur Made

A biography of August Rei
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rei, August 1886 births 1963 deaths People from Türi Parish People from Kreis Fellin Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Estonian Socialist Workers' Party politicians Heads of State of Estonia Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Estonia 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 Speakers of the Riigikogu Ambassadors of Estonia to the Soviet Union Members of the Executive of the Labour and Socialist International Envoys of Estonia to the Soviet Union Estonian anti-communists Saint Petersburg State University alumni Military personnel of the Russian Empire Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian people of World War II Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle, Class I Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden Burials at Metsakalmistu