Aleksander Tõnisson

Aleksander Tõnisson

Aleksander Tõnisson (born April 5 ^July / April 17,  1875 ^greg. In Pööra near Puurmani , † June 30, 1941 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian military and politician.

Life

Early years

Aleksander Tõnisson was born to Jaan (1836-1896) and Triin Tõnisson (née Sei; 1840-1921). The family had many children. He attended Saduküla Elementary School and Põltsamaa City School .

In 1896 he joined the tsarist army as a volunteer . He completed his two-year training at the Vilnius Military Academy in 1899 . He served in the Russian military until 1917. Among other things, he took part in the Russo-Japanese War and the First World War. In 1917 Tõnisson was instrumental in the establishment of ethnically homogeneous Estonian associations. He took part in battles near Riga, on the island of Muhu and in the area of Haapsalu . In the fall of 1917 he was arrested by the Bolsheviks , taken to Petrograd and sentenced to death there. However, Tõnisson was able to flee to Finland before the execution .

military

During the German occupation of Estonia in 1918, he lived underground in Finland. In autumn he returned to his homeland. During the Estonian War of Freedom from 1918 to 1920 he fought against Soviet Russia . In late 1918 he was promoted to major general by the government . From December 1919 he was the Estonian commander on the Northeast Front and was able to achieve several military successes. In February 1920 he was awarded the highest level of the Freedom Cross.

In the young Estonian republic, the non-party Tõnisson remained one of the most influential figures in the military because of his popularity and military experience. From July to October 1920 he was Minister of Defense in the coalition government of Prime Minister Jaan Tõnisson (no relatives). He held the same office in the subsequent short-lived Birk cabinet . He then held high-ranking posts in the Estonian military . From November 1932 to July 1933 Prime Minister Konstantin Päts reappointed him as Minister of War in his government . From 1927 to 1933 Tõnisson was also chairman of the Central Council of Estonian Officers. Between 1927 and 1930 he published his memoirs in two volumes.

politics

The monument to Aleksander Tõnisson erected in 2005 in the center of Jõhvi

In 1934 Tõnisson said goodbye to the military. He remained a confidante of the head of state and government Konstantin Päts , who in March 1934 had seized power in a bloodless state with the help of the military. From 1934 to 1939 Tõnisson held the post of mayor of the second largest Estonian city of Tartu . He was one of the leading members of the patriotic mass organization Patriotic Union ( Isamaaliit ).

In 1937 he was appointed to the Constituent Assembly ( Rahvuskogu ), which was to draft a new Basic Law that came into force on January 1, 1938. He was one of the vice-presidents of the Constituent Assembly.

In the parliamentary elections of 1938 , however, he lost his constituency against the opposition politician and former head of government Jaan Tõnisson . Aleksander Tõnisson was then elected by President Konstantin Päts as a member of the Second Chamber of Parliament ( Riiginõukogu ), the members of which are appointed by the head of state. In 1939, Tõnisson succeeded Jaan Soots as mayor of the Estonian capital Tallinn.

Arrest and death

With the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Aleksander Tõnisson was arrested by the NKVD and executed in Tallinn's Patarei prison in the summer of the following year. His grave is unknown.

Private

Aleksander Tõnisson was married to Selma-Leontine Tõnisson (born Hinno, 1892-1981) since 1919. The couple had three children. In 1941 his wife and youngest son Leo (* 1922) were deported to Kirov Oblast .

literature

• Eesti Elulood. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti Entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 558
• Katre Koit (Ed.): Unustamatu. Kindral Aleksander Tõnisson . Tallinn 2004

Web links

Commons : Aleksander Tõnisson  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Biography ( Kultuur ja elu )