Eduard Eelma (7 April 1902 – 16 November 1941) until 1937 Eduard-Vilhelm Ellmann, was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n footballer — one of the most famous before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He played 60 times for

Estonia national football team The Estonia men's national football team () represents Estonia in international football matches and is controlled by the Estonian Football Association, the governing body for football in Estonia. Estonia's home ground is Lilleküla Stadium ...

and with 21 goals, was their record goalscorer during the country's first period of independence. Eduard Eelma's international career lasted from 1921 to 1935 and his goalscoring record of 21 international goals was only beaten in 2002 by

Indrek Zelinski Indrek Zelinski (born 13 November 1974) is an Estonian football coach and former professional player. Zelinski played as a forward for Sindi Kalju, Tervis Pärnu, Pärnu Kalev, Flora, Lelle, Kuressaare, Lahti, AaB, Landskrona BoIS, Frem ...

, and later by

Andres Oper Andres Oper (born 7 November 1977) is an Estonian Association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former professional football player, player. With 38 goals in 134 appearances, Oper is Estonia national football team, Estonia's all-time re ...

. He also participated in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad () and officially branded as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The opening ceremony was held on 5 July, but some competitions had al ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Eduard Eelma was arrested by

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

in summer 1941, sentenced to death and executed in Prison No. 1 in Kirov on 16 November 1941.

Club career

Ellmann-Eelma joined

Kalev Kalev may refer to: * Kalev (mythology), a character from Estonian mythology * Kalev (given name), an Estonian masculine given name * Kalev (confectioner), an Estonian sweets company * BC Kalev, a basketball club based in Tallinn, Estonia * BC ...

when he was 17 years old. They were crowned the Estonian champions in

1923 In Greece, this year contained only 352 days as 13 days was skipped to achieve the calendrical switch from Julian to Gregorian Calendar. It happened there that Wednesday, 15 February ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Thursday, 1 March ' ...

, after Ellmann-Eelma scored two goals in their victorious 6–0 final against Tartu ASK. In 1925, he joined TJK and won the Estonian Championship in

1926 In Turkey, the year technically contained only 352 days. As Friday, December 18, 1926 ''(Julian Calendar)'' was followed by Saturday, January 1, 1927 '' (Gregorian Calendar)''. 13 days were dropped to make the switch. Turkey thus became the ...

and

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

, again scoring twice in both of the finals. In 1930, Eduard Ellmann-Eelma became one of the founding members of JS Estonia Tallinn. He captained the club to two Estonian Championship titles in

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and

1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * January 12 – Amelia Earhart ...

, before retiring after the end of the triumphant 1935 season.

International career

Ellmann-Eelma made his debut for the

in their first-ever home match, when Estonia drew 0–0 with

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

at the Tiigiveski Ground on 23 July 1921. He also took part in the

, where Estonia faced

USA The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

in the opening round. In the second half of the match, Ellmann-Eelma earned a penalty for Estonia, but it was missed by his teammate

Elmar Kaljot Elmar Gustav Kaljot (15 November 1901 – 8 January 1969) was an Estonian footballer. Career Kaljot played 25 times for the Estonian national team between 1923 and 1929. He played for three different teams in Estonian top flight and participate ...

and Estonia ultimately lost the match 0–1. In total, Eduard Eelma made 60 appearances for the national team and scored 21 goals, a record number during Estonia's first period of independence. Out of those 21 goals, ten were scored against

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, eight against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

, two against

and one against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Eelma's goalscoring record was beaten in 2002 by

, and is now held by

Statistics

International

Honours

Kalev * Estonian champion:

TJK * Estonian champion:

JS Estonia Tallinn * Estonian champion:

Estonia * Baltic Cup:

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

External links

History of Eduard Ellman-Eelma on rsssf.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eelma, Eduard 1902 births 1941 deaths Footballers from Saint Petersburg Estonian men's footballers Estonia men's international footballers Estonian people executed by the Soviet Union Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Estonia JK Tallinna Kalev players Men's association football forwards JS Estonia Tallinn players