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Friedrich Akel

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Estonian diplomat and politician (1871–1941)
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Friedrich Akel
Friedrich Akel in 1924
5th State Elder of Estonia
In office
26 March 1924 (1924-03-26) – 16 December 1924 (1924-12-16)
Preceded byKonstantin Päts
Succeeded byJüri Jaakson
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia
In office
2 June 1936 (1936-06-02) – 9 May 1938 (1938-05-09)
Preceded byJulius Seljamaa
Succeeded byKarl Selter
In office
23 July 1926 (1926-07-23) – 11 November 1927 (1927-11-11)
Preceded byAnts Piip
Succeeded byAleksander Hellat
In office
2 August 1923 (1923-08-02) – 26 March 1924 (1924-03-26)
Preceded byAleksander Hellat
Succeeded byOtto Strandman
Personal details
BornFriedrich Karl Akel
(1871-09-05)5 September 1871
Kaubi parish, Kreis Pernau, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire
Died3 July 1941(1941-07-03) (aged 69)
Tallinn, Estonia
Cause of deathExecution by shooting
Political partyChristian People's Party

Friedrich Karl Akel (5 September [O.S. 24 August] 1871 in Kaubi (now Pornuse) village, Mulgi Parish – 3 July 1941 in Tallinn) was an Estonian diplomat and politician who served as State Elder of Estonia in 1924.

Early years

Akel was born in Kaubi village (now Pornuse) in Mulgi Parish. He attended the Alexander Gymnasium in Tartu, and studied in the department of medicine of the University of Tartu in 1892–1897. After graduating, he worked as an assistant at the Tartu University Clinic before being employed as a doctor at Reimers ophthalmology clinic in Riga in 1898. The following year, he started working as a doctor in the Ujazdów military hospital in Warsaw. In 1901, he continued his studies in Berlin, Prague and Leipzig.

After briefly returning as a doctor at Reimers ophthalmology clinic, Akel practiced a private ophthalmologist in Tallinn between 1902 and 1912, with an exception for 1904–1905, when he served as an army physician in the Russo-Japanese war. In 1907 he was one of the founders of the Private Clinic of Estonian Physicians, and in 1912 he founded his own eye clinic. He was also a member and chairman of the Tallinn Municipal Council, and honorary justice of the peace in the Tallinn-Haapsalu Peace Council.

Akel was a member the board of the Northern Baltic Union of Physicians and the Tallinn Popular Education Society, chairman of the sports society "Kalev", building society of "Estonia" theatre and the Estonian Society "Estonia" in Tallinn, member and chairman of the council and member of the Board of the Tallinn Loan and Savings Society (later the Tallinn Credit Bank) and vice president of the consistory of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1920–1922.

Political career

Akel was Estonia's Elder of State between March and December 1924. During his term as Elder of State, the Communist Party of Estonia carried out a failed coup d'état attempt on 1 December; while Akel escaped unharmed, Minister of Transport Karl Kark was killed.

Akel was also Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1923–1924, 1926–1927 and 1936–1938, and Estonian envoy to Sweden and Denmark in 1928–1934 and Germany and the Netherlands in 1934–1936. In 1927–1932, Akel was Estonia's representative to the International Olympic Committee.

From 1926 until 1929, Akel was a member of the III Riigikogu, representing the Christian People's Party. Later, he was a member of the Estonian National Assembly (Rahvuskogu) in 1937, and of the Riiginõukogu (the upper chamber of Parliament) in 1938–1940.

Arrest and execution

Following the June 1940 Soviet invasion and occupation of Estonia and the other Baltic states in June 1940, Akel was imprisoned by the NKVD in October 1940. He was executed by shooting in Tallinn on 3 July 1941. His wife, Adele Karoline Tenz, was deported to the USSR in June 1941 and died there in 1944.

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

References and sources

References
  1. "Friedrich Karl Akel" (PDF) (in Estonian). Government of Estonia. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 November 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2013.
  2. "Karl Friedrich Akel" (PDF). LA84 Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2008.
Sources
Preceded byKonstantin Päts State Elder of Estonia
1924 		Succeeded byJüri Jaakson
Preceded byAleksander Hellat Minister of Foreign Affairs
1923–1924 		Succeeded byOtto Strandman
Preceded byAnts Piip Minister of Foreign Affairs
1926–1927 		Succeeded byAleksander Hellat
Preceded byJulius Seljamaa Minister of Foreign Affairs
1936–1938 		Succeeded byKarl Selter
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