Hans Kruus

He served in the First World War in the Estonian Regiment of the Imperial Russian Army from 1916, and first became involved with politics in this time.

He was a founding member of the pro-independence and left-wing Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party, which he led from September 1917 to 1921.

He also sat as a member of the first legislature of the Riigikogu (1920–23), but resigned on 3 October 1922 to focus on academia; he was replaced by Jaan Kalla.

[1][3] Kruus's academic career had also included spells as Rector of the University of Tartu (1940–41, 1944)[6] and as President of the Estonian SSR's Academy of Sciences (1946–50).

[3] Estonian historians have been critical of his politics and his role played in the Soviet occupation,[7] but he was a major influence on the formation of historical scholarship in Estonia and "despite his variegated political career, Kruus is honoured among Estonian historians as one of the founders of the professional scholarly study of history in Estonia".