Jaan Poska

About

Jaan Poska was Estonia's first foreign minister and a signer of the Treaty of Tartu. His monument in Kadriorg Park shows him walking home from work with a portfolio under his arm.

Story highlights

• Estonia's first foreign minister and a signer of the Treaty of Tartu (1920).
• His Kadriorg statue shows a statesman walking home from work, portfolio in hand.
• Trained as a lawyer; spoke calmly and weighed every diplomatic phrase.
• The Poska house museum on Poska Street keeps his Tallinn life close to learners.

Pronunciation

/jaːn poskɑ/

yawn POS-kah

Cultural flavour

• first Foreign Minister of the Republic of Estonia after independence
• signed the Treaty of Tartu with Soviet Russia on 2 February 1920
• Kadriorg monument by Elo Liiv (2016) shows him walking home with a portfolio
• Jaan Poska majamuuseum at Poska tn 8 keeps his Tallinn neighbourhood story alive
• lawyer by training who preferred calm, measured sentences over slogans
• helped negotiate recognition for a young state that needed every careful word
• died in 1920, the same year the peace treaty he championed was sealed