Artur Toom

He was arrested following the Soviet occupation of Estonia and died in Usollag Gulag labor camp.

Toom was born in the village of Sagariste in Pihtla municipality, Saare County, and became a lighthouse keeper on Vilsandi in 1906 where he started active bird conservation.

Following the Estonian War of Independence, in 1921 he studied fisheries, meteorology, ornithology and taxidermy at the University of Tartu.

He published a book on the birds of Vilsandi in 1932, assisted by his wife Alma Rosalie Toom (née Õispuu).

He was sentenced to death for espionage and anti-Soviet activity on 16 May 1942 but following an appeal, he was not executed but died in captivity on 29 March, aged 58.