Juhan Kukk
Juhan (Johann) Kukk (* 1 Apriljul / April 13 1885greg in the village Käru, now the town Rakke, Lääne- Viru, .. † December 4, 1942 in the Soviet Union) was an Estonian politician and economist. From 1922 to 1923 he was Head of State of the Republic of Estonia.
Training
Juhan Kukk graduated from the school in Tartu and studied from 1901 to 1910 in the Department of Trade Riga Polytechnic (now Riga Technical University ), and in Germany in 1908. From 1910, he began his business career as a speaker at the savings and loan bank in Tartu and as a publicist for business newspapers. During World War II he was a member of the Estonian food committee.
Politics and economics
1917/18 was Juhan Kukk Director of Finance of the Estonian Provincial Government ( Maavalitsus ) and campaigned for the secession of Estonia from Russia. He is regarded as one of the authors of the Estonian independence manifesto, the founding document of the Republic of Estonia, which was read on 23 February 1918 in Pärnu and on the following day in Tallinn.
From 1918 to 1920 he was Finance Minister of the newly founded Republic of Estonia, 1920/21 Trade and Industry Minister, 1921/22, European Parliament President and 1922-1924 President of the Estonian Central Bank ( Eesti Pank ). He created with its financial reforms, the foundations of an independent Estonian currency.
From 1920 to 1926 he belonged to the Estonian Parliament on ( Riigikogu ). From November 21, 1922 to August 2, 1923, he was an elder state ( Riigivanem ) and thus Head of State of the Republic of Estonia. Until the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union, he was also on the boards of numerous Estonian company, from 1933 to 1940 director of the company Kreenbalt AS and 1937-1940 Member of the Supervisory Board of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Deportation and death
With the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union Juhan Kukk was arrested in 1940 and deported. The exact circumstances of his death are still unclear. He probably died in December 1945 in captivity. Other sources mention 4 December 1942 and the prison camp near Arkhangelsk Kargopol.