Villem Maaker (1 May 1891 – 29 October 1966) 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 politician. He was a member of the I, II, III, IV and

V Riigikogu V Riigikogu was the fifth legislature of the Estonian Parliament (Riigikogu). The legislature was elected after 1932 elections (held on 21–23 May 1932). It sat between 15 June 1932 and 2 October 1934, when its activities were suspended.< ...

. Villem Maaker was born in Palivere Parish (now

Lääne-Nigula Parish Lääne-Nigula Parish () is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Lääne County. It has a population of 7,041 (as of 1 January 2019) and an area of . Lääne-Nigula Parish was established by merging Oru, Risti, and Taebla parishes after the mu ...

). He studied at the municipal school for three years, then he was homeschooled for one year. He then studied at evening school in Tallinn and improved his studies with private lessons. During the

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 ...

, he joined the 1st Infantry Regiment. After Estonia gained independence, he worked in the Estonian Ministry of Agriculture from in 1919 until 1920 as caretaker-governor of the newly nationalized manors, and in 1920 as district governor of state lands, carrying out land reform. He was also a member of the board and editorial board of ''Asunik'' magazine. Maaker was a member of the I–V composition of the

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (, from Estonian ''riigi-'', "of the state", and ''kogu'', "assembly") is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the prime minister and chi ...

; during the I composition, he was elected on the list of the

Estonian Labour Party The Estonian Labour Party (, ETE) was a political party in Estonia. It was formed in 1919 by a merger of the Radical Socialist Party and the Social Travaillist Party, and ceased to exist in 1932, when it merged with other centrist parties to form ...

. In 1940, during the

Soviet occupation of Estonia The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, (abbreviated Estonian SSR, Soviet Estonia, or simply Estonia ) was an administrative subunit ( union republic) of the former Soviet Union (USSR), covering the occupied and annexed territory of Estonia ...

, he ran as a candidate in the II Riigivolikogu elections and organized national opposing candidates. He was able to avoid arrest by Soviet authorities by escaping into the forest for he duration of the occupation. During the

German occupation of Estonia during World War II In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained Estonian War of Independence, independence in 1918 from the then-warring German Empire, German ...

, he was imprisoned for five months. In 1944 he fled to Sweden and worked as a textile worker in

Norrköping Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...

and worked with several Estonian refugee organizations. Maaker died in

Kolmården Kolmården () is a long and wide densely forested rocky ridge that separates the Swedish provinces of Södermanland and Östergötland, two of the country's main agricultural areas, from each other, and in historic times, along with Tylöskog ...

in 1966, aged 75.

References

1891 births 1966 deaths People from Lääne-Nigula Parish People from Kreis Wiek Estonian Labour Party politicians Farmers' Assemblies politicians Settlers' Party politicians Members of the Riigikogu, 1920–1923 Members of the Riigikogu, 1923–1926 Members of the Riigikogu, 1926–1929 Members of the Riigikogu, 1929–1932 Members of the Riigikogu, 1932–1934 Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden {{Estonia-1923-Riigikogu-politician-stub