Eduard Gottlieb Profittlich, SJ (11 September 1890 – 22 February 1942) was a German Catholic prelate who served as Apostolic Administrator of Estonia from 1931 until his death in a Soviet prison in 1942.

According to the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Profittlich's ten years in Estonia were critical to the survival of the Church during the decades of Soviet rule.

[a] After finishing elementary school in Leimersdorf, in 1904 he was prepared by a local parish priest to continue his education in Ahrweiler.

His parents wanted him to become a diocesan priest and take local assignments, but on 11 April 1913 he entered the Society of Jesus[2] in 's-Heerenberg, Netherlands.

During World War I, he served as a nurse in the Imperial German Army and as a surgical assistant in a hospital in Vuizven, France, from 1915 to 1918.

After the war, Profittlich resumed his studies in philosophy and theology at Maastricht and was ordained deacon at Valkenburg on 26 March 1922 by the Cardinal Archbishop of Cologne Karl Joseph Schulte (1871–1941).

Profittlich entered the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome to prepare for working as a clandestine missionary in Russia.

Profittlich launched Estonia's first religious weekly magazine Kiriku Elu (The Life of the Church),[5] which was read by the Estonian intelligentsia.

"[1] The number Catholics grew steadily and new parishes were established in Narva, Pärnu, Rakvere, Petseri, Valga, and Kiviõli.

On 28 September 1933, in a private audience at the Vatican, Pope Pius XI named him a protonotary apostolic in recognition of his services.

[11] On 27 June 1941, a few days after the Third Reich attacked the USSR, Profittlich was arrested by eight NKVD agents and transferred to a prison in Kirov, Russia.

He was repeatedly interrogated and on 14 October 1941 he was indicted on charges of carrying out anti-Soviet agitation by using the religious feelings of the masses to incite hatred for the USSR and the Communist Party.