Gottlieb Jaan Ast (2 March 1874 – 15 December 1919) was an Estonian politician who was the mayor of Tallinn from June to July 1919. Ast graduated from the Faculty of Law at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

in 1906. Afterwards, he became involved in politics and was active in southern Estonia as a socialist agitator. After the failed

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, th ...

, he emigrated to Switzerland in 1906 and to

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

, Germany, and later the United States, but returned to Estonia after the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

. After returning to Estonia, he joined the

Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party () was a political party in Estonia between 1917 and 1925. The leaders of the party, founded on platforms of patriotism, Estonian independence, and social justice, made a major contribution to the d ...

and was elected as a representative of the party to the Tallinn City Government and was later the mayor of Tallinn, where he served for one month, from June to July 1919. He died of

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in December 1919 and was buried in

Rahumäe cemetery Rahumäe (Estonian for 'peace hill' or 'quiet hill') is a subdistrict () in the district of Nõmme, Tallinn, the capital of Estonia. It covers an area of and has a population of 3,075 (), and a population density of . Rahumäe has a railway sta ...

. His younger brother was politician and writer Karl Ast.

References

1874 births 1919 deaths People from Võru Parish Politicians from Võru County People from Kreis Werro Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Mayors of Tallinn Estonian expatriates in Germany Estonian expatriates in Switzerland Estonian expatriates in the United States University of Tartu alumni 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis Tuberculosis deaths in Estonia Burials at Rahumäe Cemetery {{Estonia-politician-stub

See also

References