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Karl Genrikhovich Vaino ( et, Karl Vaino; russian: Карл Генрихович Вайно; ''alias'' Kirill Voinov; 28 May 1923 – 12 February 2022) was an
Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...
politician. From 1978 to 1988 he served as the First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, abbreviated EKP) was a subdivision of the Soviet communist party which in 1920-1940 operated illegally in Estonia and, after the 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia by the ...
.


Early life and career

Vaino was born in May 1923 in the
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
n city of
Tomsk Tomsk ( rus, Томск, p=tomsk, sty, Түң-тора) is a city and the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast in Russia, located on the Tom River. Population: Founded in 1604, Tomsk is one of the oldest cities in Siberia. The city is a no ...
. He was born in the family of the communist (
bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
) Genrikh Vaino (born Heinrich Vaino; 1889–1965), who moved from Estonia in 1918, and Lydia Savi, the daughter of Estonian immigrants who had settled in Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century. Heinrich, after the bolsheviks' failed uprising in the 1918–1920
Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...
, fled to Soviet Russia. After graduating from what is now the Omsk State Transport University in 1947, Vaino worked in engineering and technical jobs on the railway in the Estonian SSR. He joined the CPSU in 1947. He served as Secretary of the Tallinn Regional Committee from 1948–1953. In the 1960s and 1970s, he also served as Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Estonia. He graduated from the Correspondence Higher Party School in 1957.


Leader of the Estonian SSR

Having lived his early life in Russia, Vaino did not speak Estonian very well, and did so with a thick Russian accent. For this, he was considered to be perfect for the role of First Secretary, being a so-called " Yestonian". On 26 July 1978, the incumbent First Secretary of the past 28 years,
Johannes Käbin Johannes Käbin (), also known by his Russified name Ivan Gustavovich Kebin (; 24 September 1905, Kalvi, Kreis Wierland, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire – 26 October 1999, Tallinn, Estonia) was an Estonian Soviet politician who led ...
, who was considered to be too moderate for the ongoing
Era of Stagnation The "Era of Stagnation" (russian: Пери́од засто́я, Períod zastóya, or ) is a term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev in order to describe the negative way in which he viewed the economic, political, and social policies of the Soviet Uni ...
Russification, was forced to resign from his post and was replaced by Vaino. As the First secretary, Vaino acquired a reputation of being an extreme Russificator. With a dismissive attitude towards Estonian language and culture, he was not popular amongst
Estonians Estonians or Estonian people ( et, eestlased) are a Finnic ethnic group native to Estonia who speak the Estonian language. The Estonian language is spoken as the first language by the vast majority of Estonians; it is closely related to other ...
. He delivered public speeches mostly in
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries * Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and p ...
, one notable exception being at the 350th anniversary of Tartu State University, where he presented awards to university workers, speaking in Estonian with a thick Russian accent. In 1979, an unsuccessful attempt was made on his life.


Downfall

In early 1988, the CPE split into national communists and internationalists. Vaino was the leader of the latter, while the former was led by then-Soviet ambassador to
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
Vaino Väljas Vaino Väljas (; born 28 March 1931 in Külaküla, Hiiumaa) is a former Soviet and Estonian politician. He was the Chairman of the 6th Supreme Soviet of the Estonian SSR from 18 April 1963 to 19 March 1967, first secretary of communist party of ...
. Being considered too conservative by the Moscow elite, after almost 10 years, Vaino was forced to resign from his post on 16 June 1988, and replaced by Väljas. Vaino would then move to Moscow, where he had lived ever since. He did not visit Estonia again.


Personal life and death

His daughter Eleonora Kochetova is the daughter in law of Soviet writer
Vsevolod Kochetov Vsevolod Anissimovich Kochetov (russian: Все́волод Ани́симович Ко́четов) (, Novgorod, Russian Empire - 4 November 1973, Moscow) was a Soviet Russian writer and cultural functionary. He has been described as a party dog ...
, and his son Eduard is the Vice President for External Relations at AvtoVAZ. He has two grandsons, Russian politician
Anton Vaino Anton Eduardovich Vaino (russian: Антон Эдуардович Вайно; born 17 February 1972) is a Russian diplomat and politician of Estonian descent. Currently he is the Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. Vaino is the ...
and Russian Interior Ministry official Andrey Vaino. On 19 February 2022, it was announced that Vaino had died at some point earlier in the year, at the age of 98. He was buried on 14 February.Suri endine Eesti kommunistliku partei juht Karl Vaino


Awards

*2
Orders of Lenin The Order of Lenin (russian: Орден Ленина, Orden Lenina, ), named after the leader of the Russian October Revolution, was established by the Central Executive Committee on April 6, 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration b ...
(1981 and 1983) *
Order of the October Revolution The Order of the October Revolution (russian: Орден Октябрьской Революции, ''Orden Oktyabr'skoy Revolyutsii'') was instituted on October 31, 1967, in time for the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was conferr ...
(1971) *3 Orders of the Red Banner of Labour (1959, 1965, and 1973) *
Medal "For Labour Valour" The Medal "For Labour Valour" (russian: Медаль «За трудовую доблесть») was a civilian labour award of the Soviet Union bestowed to especially deserving workers to recognise and honour dedicated and valorous labour or ...
(1950)


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaino, Karl 1923 births 2022 deaths People from Tomsk Russian emigrants to Estonia People from Tomsk Governorate Heads of the Communist Party of Estonia Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1959–1963 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1963–1967 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1967–1971 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1971–1975 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1975–1980 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1980–1985 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1985–1990 Tenth convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Eleventh convocation members of the Soviet of the Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour