Otto Strandman
Prime Minister of Estonia
Died when: 65 years 67 days (782 months)Star Sign: Sagittarius
Otto August Strandman (30 November [O.S. 18 November] 1875 – 5 February 1941) was an Estonian politician, who served as prime minister (1919) and State Elder of Estonia (1929–1931).
He was one of the leaders of the centre-left Estonian Labour Party, that saw its biggest support after the 1919 and 1920 elections.
Strandman was a key figure in composing the radical land reform law and the 1920 Constitution. He also served as Minister of Agriculture (1918–1919), Minister of Justice (acting 1918; 1920–1921), Minister of Finance (1924), Minister of Foreign Affairs (1918, 1920–1921 and 1924) and Minister of War (1919).
While he was holding the office of the Minister of Finance, he stabilized the economy and managed to avoid hyperinflation.
Strandman served as the speaker of the Estonian Provincial Assembly in 1917–1918, and as speaker of the newly independent country's parliament (Riigikogu) in 1921.
He was also a diplomat, serving as the Estonian envoy in Warsaw, Poland (1927–1929), and in Paris, France (1933–1939). After the Stalinist Soviet Union invaded and occupied Estonia in June 1940, Strandman resigned from public offices.
A few months later, in February 1941, he was sent a summons to appear at the local headquarters of the NKVD.
Aware of the fate that would have expected any senior Estonian politicians like him at the hands of the Soviet terror regime, he instead decided to commit suicide at his own home in Kadrina.
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Prime Minister of Estonia
Prime Minister of Estonia
Prime Minister of Estonia