Otto Silber (17 March 1893 – 23 December 1940) was an Estonian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

. He competed in the men's tournament at 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 ...

. Silber participated in the first official football game between Tallinn clubs JS Meteor and Merkur on 6 April 1909 (on the Meteor side). A defender, Silber played in the

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 ...

between 1920 and 1926, captaining Estonia's first international match 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, ...

in 1920. He was a founder player in the club Tallinna JK from 1921 to 1925, later becoming a board member. He was also a

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

.
Otto Silber, ESBL biography, in Estonian. Silber, a former soldier in the

First World War 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 ...

and

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 ...

, was, following the Soviet annexation of his country in 1940, arrested by the

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 ...

and executed in

Saue Saue is a town in north-western Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Saue Parish in Harju County. The territory of Saue is and population about 5,800. Closest centres are Tallinn (), Keila (), Saku () and Laagri (). Geography Saue ...

, Estonia in December 1940 aged 47, although he was alternatively reported to have died in a motor car accident. He is buried in the

Defence Forces Cemetery of Tallinn The Defence Forces Cemetery of Tallinn (), sometimes called the Tallinn Military Cemetery (), is one of the three cemeteries of the Tallinn City Centre Cemetery (Estonian: ''Siselinna kalmistu''). It is situated about 3 kilometres outside the cent ...

, Estonia.

References

External links

* 1893 births 1940 deaths Estonian men's footballers Estonia men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Estonia Footballers at the 1924 Summer Olympics Footballers from Tallinn Men's association football defenders Estonian people executed by the Soviet Union {{Estonia-footy-bio-stub