Tõnis Kint ( – 5 January 1991) 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, and t ...

n politician. He served as "Prime Minister in duties of the President" (in other words, Estonian head of state in exile) from 23 December 1970 to 1 March 1990. From 7 April 1938 member of the Chamber of Deputies. 1953-1963 Estonian Minister of Agriculture, 1963-1970 Acting Prime Minister of the

Estonian Government in Exile The Estonian government-in-exile was the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1944 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1991 and 1992. It traced its l ...

Education

Kint graduated from the High School of Sciences 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 o ...

. In 1916, he studied in the building department of the Riga Polytechnical School, which was later evacuated to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1918, he studied in the agricultural department of the Baltic Technical University, opened in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the B ...

by the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 193 ...

administration. In 1920-1928, he studied intermittently at the

agricultural Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peopl ...

department of

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 ...

. In 1924, he received additional education in the agricultural and veterinary department in Copenhagen Agricultural and Veterinary University.

Military career

In 1916, Kint was mobilised to the Russian Army, finished military school at Tsaritsyn (known today as

Volgograd Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...

in Russia) in 1917. During 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 fig ...

, he served in an

infantry Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and m ...

regiment of the Russian Army. In the beginning of 1918, Kint joined a newly formed Estonian regiment at

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 ...

. From 1918 to 1920 he fought in 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 wes ...

on the broad-tracked armour train No. 2, as Commander of its

machine-gun A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...

commandos. At the end of the war he was promoted to Lieutenant and acting commander of the train.

Life after the wars

From 1928 to 1932, Kint was Head of the Agricultural Bookkeeping Department. From 1932 to 1938, he served as Assistant and Managing Director of the department. From 1938 to 1940, he was Director of the Chamber of Agriculture. In 1940, he put up a candidacy on the Riigivolikogu elections as one of the counter-candidates of the "Estonian Working People's Union." His candidacy was deleted with other counter-candidacies. During the German occupation was director of the market management department in the Eesti Omavalitsus ( Estonian Self-Government), he was released due to conflicts with the occupation power. Thereafter lived in his father's farm and worked in the Estonian Consumers' Centre. In 1944, Kint escaped to Sweden. From 1945 to 1949 was employed at the Uppsala Agricultural University (at Ultuna) as archive assistant, 1945-51 an agricultural adviser in the Stockholm County, and in 1951-1975 a researcher for the Swedish Agricultural Union (Landbrukarnas Riksförbund) and in its Agricultural Economics Research Institute (Jordbrukets Utredningsinstitut), in 1957 Editor-in-Chief of the "Teataja" newspaper. He resigned from this job in 1975. From 1950 he was a Member of the Board and later an Honorary Member of the Agricultural Union of Free Estonians. From 1971 to 1975, he was Chairman of the Estonian National Council, Honorary Member and Honorary Chairman of the Estonian

Agronomists An agriculturist, agriculturalist, agrologist, or agronomist (abbreviated as agr.), is a professional in the science, practice, and management of agriculture and agribusiness. It is a regulated profession in Canada, India, the Philippines, the U ...

' Society in Sweden and Honorary Member of the Swedish Society for the Development of

Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

Regions (Sällskapet för Landbygdsutveckling). In 1983 the

Polish government-in-exile The Polish government-in-exile, officially known as the Government of the Republic of Poland in exile ( pl, Rząd Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej na uchodźstwie), was the government in exile of Poland formed in the aftermath of the Invasion of Pola ...

awarded to him the Chevalier of the Polish Order of Restitution (Order Odrodzenia Polski). Kint had many publications in the field of agriculture. He also published his memoirs, and the book ''The Broad Tracked Armour Train No. 2 in the War of Liberty'' with Edvin Reinvaldt.

Personal life

Kint's first spouse was Salme Redlich. Since 1953, Kint was married with Magda Marianne Rassmann (1906-1978). Kint's children: Arne Kint, Oole Kint.

External links

Short CV of Tõnis Kint and somewhat Estonian history!Biography of Tõnis Kint on official Estonian Presidential website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kint, Tonis 1896 births 1991 deaths People from Põhja-Sakala Parish People from Kreis Fellin Farmers' Assemblies politicians Patriotic League (Estonia) politicians Members of the Estonian National Assembly Members of the Riigivolikogu Estonian anti-communists Estonian agronomists Riga Technical University alumni University of Tartu alumni Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Estonian World War II refugees Refugees in Sweden Estonian emigrants to Sweden 20th-century agronomists