JUHAN KUKK - FRAMER OF ESTONIAN INDEPENDENCE

JUHAN KUKK – a martyr of the Republic of Estonia

The ancestors of Estonians have lived on this land for thousands of years. Our nationhood was proclaimed a century ago. Juhan Kukk formulated the quintessence of this nation in the text of the Declaration of Independence (1918). In the course of the Estonian War of Independence (1918-1920) he laid the foundation for the Estonian national currency.

At the outset of the Republic, Juhan Kukk served as speaker of parliament as well as head of state. He always put action above eloquence. His contribution to democratic economic life – promoting the cooperatives movement – was indispensable.

Juhan Kukk, one of the most outstanding founding fathers of the nation, was intolerable for the Stalinist empire. He perished as a martyr of the Republic of Estonia in one of the concentration camps in northern Russia.

The birth of our nationhood made us, Estonians, masters of our own land. This book, a summary of Juhan Kukk`s life and work, is a token of gratitude of today´s free Estonia.

Trivimi Velliste
Former Foreign Minister and
Ambassador of Estonia to the United Nations