Jakob Tillo

Jakob Tillo (until 1913 Tilo * January 30 ^jul. / 11. February  1887 ^greg. In the village Lätkalu , rural community Võisiku, Viljandi County , Governorate of Livonia , †  31 January 1926 in Tallinn , Estonia ) was an Estonian aviation pioneer, diplomat and Entrepreneur.

Life

Jakob Tillo was born as the son of farmers Joosep (1843–1926) and Mari Tillo (nee Põrk, * 1857). In 1913 he graduated from the renowned Alexander Gymnasium in Tartu, Livonia . From 1913 to 1918 he studied biology at the University of Tartu . He was a member of the Estonian Students Association ( Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts - EÜS ).

In 1914 Tillo took part in an expedition to the White Sea and Novaya Zemlya . From 1915 he served in the tsarist army . He studied meteorology and aeronavigation at the Pavlovsk Observatory .

Tillo took part in over fifty military missions as a reconnaissance pilot during the First World War. He was mainly used on the front in Galicia . He was awarded the George Cross three times .

After the founding of the Republic of Estonia, Tillo fought in the Estonian War of Freedom (1918–1920) as a reconnaissance pilot against Soviet Russia . He played a key role in building up the Estonian Air Force . On September 1, 1919, a training department for Estonian fighter pilots was created, which Tillo directed.

In October 1920 Jakob Tillo joined the foreign service of the young Estonian republic. He was initially head of the passport department in the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Tallinn. From January to May 1922 he was employed at the Estonian embassy in Paris, then from May to August 1922 at the Estonian consulate in Copenhagen. From August 1, 1922 to January 11, 1923, Tillo was deputy head of the Central European political department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

1920/21 Tillo continued his studies in biology at the University of Tartu. In 1922 he switched to law . At times he worked in a law firm.

On March 22, 1921, Tillo founded the Estonian airline Aeronaut together with the Estonian businessman Robert Artur Holst (1885-1943) . The joint-stock company had a starting capital of 10,000 Estonian marks . It initially served the Tallinn - Helsinki line . Air connections to Riga , Memel and Koenigsberg were added later. Tillo was director of the airline.

On January 24, 1926, an Aeronaut plane crashed on its flight from Tallinn to Helsinki. Jakob Tillo was seriously injured and died a week later in the Estonian capital. The Estonian pilot of the Junkers F 13 , Harald Stunden , and the four other passengers survived. Aeronaut had acquired the aircraft just a few days earlier. A year later the company ceased operations and was liquidated in 1928.

Jakob Tillo is buried in the Kolga-Jaani cemetery.

obituary

• “Jakob Tillo †” in: Postimees , February 1, 1926, p. 1

Web links

• CV and photo (Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs; PDF; 5.8 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ the obituaries printed in the Estonian newspapers in 1926 give the date of birth February 13, 1887
2. ↑ Päewaleht, no. February 31, 1926 Online
3. ↑ http://www.tehnikamaailm.ee/est/other/2009/06/?headerID=1609  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ Wikibase entry in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated August 30, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.