Jaan Teemant

Jaan Teemant (born September 24, 1872 in Vigala , Läänemaa district , † possibly July 24, 1941 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian lawyer and politician. 1925-27 and 1932 he was head of state of the Republic of Estonia .

Life

After graduating from the renowned Hugo-Treffner-Gymnasium in Tartu , Teemant studied law at the University of Saint Petersburg . After graduating in 1901, he worked as a lawyer in Tallinn.

Teemant discovered his affinity for political issues early on. 1904/05 he was a member of the Tallinn City Council. He took an active part in the revolution of 1905 and had to flee into exile in Switzerland . In absentia he was sentenced to death by a tsarist court. In 1908 he was able to return to Estonia, but spent a year and a half in custody in St. Petersburg.

1917-1919 Teemant was a member of the Estonian District Council ( Eesti Maanõukogu ) and 1919/20 member of the constituent assembly of the newly established Republic of Estonia. In 1918 he became the country's first attorney general.

Teemant was a long-time member of the Estonian Parliament ( Riigikogu ) and twice as Elder of State ( Riigivanem ) head of state of the Republic of Estonia (December 15, 1925 - December 9, 1927 and February 19, 1932 - July 19, 1932). In addition, he worked as a lawyer until 1940 and from 1919 to 1925 chairman of the Estonian Bar Association. In 1932 he became Dr. jur. hc from the University of Tartu .

After the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Jaan Teemant was arrested on July 23, 1940 by the NKVD . His further fate is unclear. He may have been executed in Tallinn in the summer of 1941.

Web links

• Biography of the Estonian Presidential Office (in English)