Jaan Poska VR III/1 (; ,

Laiusevälja Laiusevälja (Estonian for '' Laiuse Field'') is a village in Jõgeva Parish, Jõgeva County, Estonia. (retrieved 28 July 2021) It is located about 10 km northeast of the town of Jõgeva, adjacent to Laiuse small borough, on the Jõgeva–M ...

, near

Jõgeva Jõgeva is a small town in Estonia with a population of around 5000 people. It is the capital of Jõgeva Parish and Jõgeva County. History Jõgeva was first mentioned in 1599 as ''Jagiwa'' manor, being established only recently on the lands ...

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 ...

– 7 March 1920,

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 ...

, Estonia) was a lawyer, politician and the foreign minister of Estonia in 1918–1919.

Early life

Poska was born the fifth of 12 children of an

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, otherwise known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity or Byzantine Christianity, is one of the three main Branches of Christianity, branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholic Church, Catholicism and Protestantism ...

parish schoolmaster and received his secondary education at the church's school in

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. He entered medical school 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.

, but soon transferred to law where he graduated in 1890. Poska was the first native Estonian-speaking person admitted to the

bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar ** Chocolate bar * Protein bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a laye ...

in Tallinn, where he worked as

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

Career

Jaan Poska was mayor of Tallinn during 1913–1917. In that position he supported reforms, like reforming healthcare and founding two schools. In April 1917, he became governor of the

Autonomous Governorate of Estonia The Autonomous Governorate of Estonia of the Russian state was established as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and ceased to exist prior to Estonia becoming a fully independent country in 1918. History For most of the time during th ...

. 1917 the ''

Maapäev The Estonian Provincial Assembly or Estonian State Diet, also often called by its Estonian name ''Maapäev'', was elected in May–June 1917 during the Russian Revolution as the provincial parliament ('' diet'') of the Autonomous Governorate of ...

'' refused to recognize the new

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

rule and proclaimed itself the supreme legal authority of Estonia. The

Republic of 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 ...

declared independence on 24 February 1918, only to be occupied by the

German Empire The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

until the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in November 1918. The following

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence, also known as the War of Freedom in Estonia, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Soviet Russian westward offensive of 1918–1919 and the ...

against the Soviet Russian invasion lasted until February 1920. On 24 February 1918, Poska was appointed the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of Estonia. He worked in Western Europe for gaining diplomatic recognition to Estonia and participated in

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. He led the peace talks with

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and achieved Treaty of Tartu which was signed on 2 February 1920. He also helped to write the first Estonian constitution. Poska died unexpectedly on 7 March 1920 at the age of 54. He was the first Estonian ever to be given the state funeral and over 20,000 people attended it.

Personal life

Poska's daughter Vera Poska-Grünthal was a leading Estonian feminist and lawyer who was married to politician and lawyer Timotheus Grünthal. American lawyer Sharon L. Gleason is Jaan Poska's great granddaughter. Canadian actress

Alison Pill Alison Pill (born November 27, 1985) is a Canadian actress. A former child actress, Pill began her career at age 12, appearing in numerous projects before transitioning to adult roles with a breakthrough role in the television series '' The Bo ...

is Poska's great great granddaughter.

Citations

Ülo Kaevats Ülo Kaevats (29 September 1947 – 30 January 2015) was an Estonian statesman, academic and philosopher. In 1972, he graduated from the Faculty of Physics and Chemistry of the University of Tartu with a qualification from a physicist and a rese ...

et al. 2000. ''Eesti Entsüklopeedia 14''. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus,

Cited sources

External links