Karl Friedrich Luts (15 November 1883,

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

– 15 January 1942,

Usolye Usolye () is the name of several inhabited localities in Russia. The name is an archaic Russian term for a salt-producing locality. ;Urban localities * Usolye, Usolsky District, Perm Krai, a town in Usolsky District of Perm Krai *Usolye, old name ...

Perm Oblast Until 1 December 2005, Perm Oblast () was a federal subject of Russia (an oblast) in Privolzhsky (Volga) Federal District. According to the results of the referendum held in October 2004, Perm Oblast was merged with Komi-Permyak Autonomous Okrug ...

) 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 ...

oil shale Oil shale is an organic-rich Granularity, fine-grained sedimentary rock containing kerogen (a solid mixture of Organic compound, organic chemical compounds) from which liquid hydrocarbons can be produced. In addition to kerogen, general compos ...

chemist and politician. Karl Luts was born on 15 November 1883 in St. Petersburg,

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He studied at the St. Petersburg's St. John's Church School and in 1896–1899 he studied privately at the Craft School of the Imperial Technical School. In 1898, Karl Luts joined the St. Petersburg Estonian Students' Society where he became a member of the board. In 1905-1912, he studied at the Petersburg Imperial Institute of Technology and the

Saint Petersburg Imperial University Saint Petersburg State University (SPBGU; ) is a public university, public research university in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in Russia. Founded in 1724 by a decree of Peter the Great, the uni ...

, which he graduated as a chemist. After graduation, he worked as a drawer at different factories of St Petersburg and as an assistant at the Bekhterev Psychoneurological Institute. He was one of the founders of Estonian high-school in St. Petersburg. In 1918–1919, Karl Luts was appointed

Minister of Education An education minister (sometimes minister of education) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with educational matters. Where known, the government department, ministry, or agency that develops policy and deli ...

of the

Estonian Provisional Government The Estonian Provisional Government () was formed on 24 February 1918, by the Salvation Committee appointed by '' Maapäev'', the Estonian Province Assembly. History Konstantin Päts' first provisional cabinet The Provisional Government was le ...

. However, he never took the office because at the same time he was imprisoned in Russia by the Soviet regime. In 1920, Karl Luts moved to

Kohtla-Järve Kohtla-Järve () is a city and Municipalities of Estonia, municipality in northeastern Estonia, founded in 1924 and incorporated as a town in 1946. The city is highly industrial, and is both a processor of oil shales and is a large producer of ...

and became the head of the National Laboratory of Oil Shale and the Kohtla oil-shale factory at the State Oil Shale Industry of Estonia. There is a street in Kohtla-Järve named after Karl Luts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Luts, Karl Friedrich 1883 births 1942 deaths Estonian chemists Education ministers of Estonia Oil shale in Estonia Oil shale researchers Saint Petersburg State University alumni Estonian people who died in Soviet detention People who died in the Gulag Estonian Gulag detainees Scientists from Saint Petersburg