Viktor Päts (18 April 1906

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth-largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second-largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet of ...

– 4 March 1952

Butyrka Prison Butyrskaya prison (), usually known simply as Butyrka ( rus, Бутырка, p=bʊˈtɨrkə), is a prison in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow, Russia. In Imperial Russia it served as the central transit prison. During the Soviet Uni ...

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n politician, lawyer, and son of Estonian president

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

. He was a member of

VI Riigikogu VI Riigikogu was the sixth legislature of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). The legislature was elected after the 1938 elections (held on 24–25 February 1938). It sat between 7 April 1938 and 5 July 1940, after which the Soviet Union occupied ...

(its Chamber of Deputies). Viktor Päts studied at the Gustav Adolf Gymnasium in

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

, graduating in 1924, then graduating from the Faculty of Law of the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

and practicing as a lawyer. In 1931 after the bankruptcy of Dvigatel factory he became the Chairman of the Council of the new ''AS Eesti Dvigatel'' enterprise, AS Järvakandi Factories, the Tartu Yeast Factory, the insurance JSC , and in 1939 became a Kirjastus-OÜ Culture Society board member. Viktor Päts was a member of the First Chamber of the

Estonian National Assembly Estonian National Assembly () was a bicameral national assembly which was convened after the 1936 Estonian National Assembly referendum received popular support to draft a new constitution. The First Chamber had 80 members and was elected (althou ...

since 1937 and then member of the VI Riigikogu elected from the 36th constituency in 1938. On 13 April 1937, he was awarded the Latvian

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is ''Per aspera ad astra'', meaning "Through hardships towards the ...

2nd Class. Viktor Päts was deported in 30 July 1940 after the

Soviet occupation of the Baltic states The occupation of the Baltic states was a period of annexation of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania by the Soviet Union from 1940 until its dissolution in 1991. For a period of several years during World War II, Nazi Germany occupied the Baltic st ...

, with his father and family, to Ufa in the

Bashkir ASSR The Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, also historically known as Soviet Bashkiria or simply Bashkiria, was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR. Currently it is known as Republic of Bashkortostan, a federal subject of Russia. ...

. Later he was arrested in 1941, spending several years in prison and dying in 1952 in the Butyrka prison.

Personal life

Viktor Päts was the son of politician Konstantin Päts and Helma Wilhelmine Päts (born Peeti, 1879–1910) and the brother of Leo Päts (1902–1988). On July 20, 1932, Viktor Päts married Helice Alice Päts (born Lattik, 1911–1988), the daughter of clergyman and writer

Jaan Lattik Jaan Lattik (23 October O.S. 11 October">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">O.S. 11 October/small> 1878 near , Estonia – 27 June 1967 in Stockholm, Sweden) was an Estonian politician, writer ...

, and they had two sons: Matti Päts (1933–2024) and Henn Päts (1936–1944).

References

1906 births 1952 deaths Politicians from Pärnu People from Kreis Pernau Patriotic League (Estonia) politicians Members of the Estonian National Assembly Members of the Riigivolikogu 20th-century Estonian lawyers University of Tartu alumni Estonian Gulag detainees Estonian people who died in Soviet detention People who died in the Gulag {{Estonia-1938-Riigikogu-politician-stub