Hugo Kukke

Hugo Villi Kukke (born February 17, ^July 1  / March 1, 1898 ^greg. In the rural community of Pala ; †  August 3, 1942 in the Soswa prison camp, Sverdlovsk Oblast , Russia ) was an Estonian journalist and politician .

Early years

Hugo Kukke was born to the forester Villem Kukke and his wife Loviisa Mägi. He attended the community school in Pala from 1906 to 1908 and the ministerial school in Torma from 1908 to 1911 . From 1911 to 1917 he was a student at the renowned Alexander Gymnasium in Tartu, Livonia . In 1917/18 and from 1920 to 1927 Kukke studied law at the University of Tartu. In 1925 he was the chairman of the influential Student Estonian Association ( Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts ).

From 1918 to 1920 Kukke took part as a volunteer in the Estonian War of Independence against Soviet Russia .

journalist

Kukke began his journalistic work while still a student. From 1923 to 1928 he was a member of the editorial team of the Tartu newspaper Postimees . In 1928/29 he worked for the Pärnu Postimees newspaper . In 1930 he was editor of the newspaper Pärnu Päevaleht . From 1930 he also worked as a lawyer.

Politician

At the same time he was drawn into politics. From 1931 he sat as a member of the National Center Party ( Rahvuslik Keskerakond ) in parliament . From November 1932 to May 1933, Kukke was Minister of Education and Social Affairs in the cabinet of Prime Minister Konstantin Päts .

propagandist

In March 1934, the Estonian head of state and government Konstantin Päts seized power in a bloodless coup. Kukke became one of the most important propaganda pillars of the authoritarian ruling regime. From 1935 to 1940 he was editor-in-chief of the government-affiliated daily Uus Eesti ("New Estonia"). In addition, he held leading positions at the Estonian Information and Propaganda Office and in the patriotic-national unity organization Isamaaliit . In 1937, Kukke was appointed a member of the second chamber of the Constituent Assembly ( Rahvuskogu ). From 1938 he took a seat in the first Chamber of Parliament ( Riigivolikogu ).

death

With the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Kukke was arrested on June 14, 1941 in Tallinn. His wife was inside the Soviet Union deported . Hugo Kukke was sentenced to death by an NKVD tribunal and executed in Russia on August 3, 1942.

Private life

Hugo Kukke married the industrial daughter Virve Huik (1904–1956) in 1935.

Web links

• Photo (Estonian National Archives)