Johannes Lauristin

Johannes Lauristin (pseudonym: Juhan Madarik; 29 October 1899 – 28 August 1941) was an Estonian communist politician, activist, collaborator, writer and statesman who served as the first Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic. His wife was communist politician Olga Lauristin and his daughter was politician Marju Lauristin.

Biography Lauristin was born in to a family of industrial workers. After the revolutionary events of 1917, he quit his work and joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (Bolsheviks). In 1919, he was enrolled in the Army of the Republic of Estonia and participated in the War of Independence.

Johannes Lauristin died during the Soviet evacuation of Tallinn; however, the circumstances of his death are unclear. According to the official Soviet version, he died on the Yakov Sverdlov destroyer after it was struck by a mine. According to the historian Mati Õun, he was executed by fellow communist officials for disobeying Stalin's war orders; however, this version is also contested.

Lauristin was awarded the Order of Lenin posthumously in 1946.