Ernst Jaakson

Ernst Jaakson (1937)

Ernst Jaakson (born August 11, 1905 in Riga , † September 4, 1998 in New York ) was an Estonian diplomat . From 1965 to 1993 he was Estonian Ambassador to the USA .

Jaakson studied law at the University of Riga , later in Tartu and at Columbia University in New York economics. When Estonia gained independence in 1919, he began his career in foreign service as a member of the Estonian legation in neighboring Latvia. From 1929 to 1932 he was secretary of the Estonian consulate in San Francisco , in 1932 he was appointed to the consul post in New York.

After the Soviet Union occupied Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in violation of international law in 1940, the USA did not recognize the annexation of the Baltic states in accordance with the Hoover-Stimson doctrine and formally continued diplomatic relations with the de facto extinct states. In 1965 Jaakson succeeded the late Johannes Kaiv as Estonia's ambassador to Washington and remained so until the collapse of the Soviet Union and Estonia regained independence in 1991. Jaakson was soon the longest-serving member of the diplomatic corps and, according to the principle of seniority, was its chairman. While the representatives of the Baltic countries were often ridiculed as “diplomats without a country”, Jaakson was widely respected for his leadership style. In fact, Jaakson was in a difficult position in terms of constitutional law during his tenure; he refused to recognize the government in exile formed by August Rei in Oslo in 1953 , and carried out lobbying work for Estonia on his own.

After Estonia's independence, he was officially confirmed as ambassador to the USA by the new, now sovereign Estonian government and at the same time appointed Estonia's representative to the United Nations. From 1993 until his death in 1998 he was Estonian Consul in New York.

With a total of 79 years in the foreign service, Jaakson was probably the longest-serving diplomat of his time; During this time he became a symbol of Estonian independence. In 1995 he published his autobiography Eestile ( Eng . "For Estonia"), which also provides good insights into the diplomacy of the Cold War .

On October 1, 1998, the Ernst Jaakson Foundation was set up in his honor, the aim of which is to preserve the memory of the outstanding Estonian diplomat Ernst Jaakson and to secure Estonia's independence. The foundation awards scholarships for studying international relations and recognizes educated and responsible civil servants. The patron of the foundation is the president .

Web links

Commons : Ernst Jaakson  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• For diplomacy of the Estonian government in exile 1940-91 (English)
• Literature by and about Ernst Jaakson in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ^ President presented the Ernst-Jaakson-Scholarship and the State Official's Prize . Press service of the Presidential Office. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2019.