Jaan Kiivit senior
Jaan Kiivit senior (born February 27, 1906 in Pahuvere, Tarvastu rural community , Viljandi County , Estonia ; † August 3, 1971 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian Evangelical Lutheran pastor , archbishop and ecumenist .
Live and act
Kiivit senior graduated from the University of Tartu in 1932 with a degree in Protestant theology and, after ordination in 1933, worked as a pastor, and from 1940 also as provost in Viru-Jaagupi . In 1948 he became pastor at St. John's Church in Tallinn and at the same time provost of Tallinn. Because he was considered loyal to the Soviet Union, he was appointed to the post of bishop of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (EELK), which had been vacant since Johan Kõpp's emigration in 1944 ; the office was converted to archbishop that same year. He was particularly interested in ecumenical relations with other churches and therefore took part in the meeting of the Christian Peace Conference (CFK) in Prague in June 1958, as well as in other meetings such as the first All-Christian Peace Assemblies (ACFV). He also helped found the Conference of European Churches (CEC) in 1959 and was elected one of its first presidents.
Four universities, namely Leipzig and Prague in 1959 and Helsinki and Paris in 1963, awarded him an honorary doctorate .
In 1967 Kiivit resigned from the office of archbishop because of his poor health, but also because of increasing distance from the state authorities. Alfred Tooming was his successor .
family
Kiivit had been with Gertrud born in 1935. Varik (1914–1982) married and had five children with her. His son of the same name was pastor of the Holy Spirit Church in Tallinn for almost thirty years and, like his father, archbishop from 1994 until his retirement in February 2005.
literature
- Dorothea Neumärker: In memoriam Jaan Kiivit. In: Kirche im Osten 15, 1972, pp. 163–174.
- Riho Altnurme : Archbishop Jaan Kiivit (1906–1971). In: Contributions to East German Church History 7, 2005 , pp. 82–92.
- Wojciech Roszkowski, Jan Kofman (Ed.): Biographical Dictionary of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century. Routledge, London 2016, pp. 458 f.
Web links
- Short biography on the website of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church (Estonian)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Kiivit, Jaan senior |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian Evangelical Lutheran theologian |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 27, 1906 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Pahuvere, rural community Tarvastu , Viljandi County |
| DATE OF DEATH | 3rd August 1971 |
| Place of death | Tallinn |