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Konstantin Päts (; – 18 January 1956) was the most influential politician of interwar Estonia, and served five times as the country's head of state. He was one of the first Estonians to become active in politics and started an almost 40-year political rivalry with Jaan Tõnisson, first through journalism with his newspaper ''Teataja'', later through politics. He was condemned to death during the 1905 Revolution, but managed to flee first to Switzerland, then to Finland, where he continued his literary work. He returned to Estonia, but had to spend time in prison in 1910–1911. In 1917, Päts headed the Provincial Government of the Autonomous Governorate of Estonia, but was forced to go underground after the October Revolution. On 19 February 1918, Päts became one of the three members of the Estonian Salvation Committee that issued the Estonian Declaration of Independence on 24 February. Konstantin Päts headed the Estonian Provisional Government (1918–1919), although he was imprisoned during the second half of the German Occupation. In the Provisional Government, Päts also served as Minister of Internal Affairs (1918) and Minister of War (1918–1919) that left him organizing Estonian troops for the War of Independence. During the 1920s and early 1930s, Päts led the most right-wing party of the major political parties of the time – Farmers' Assemblies that eventually merged with the Union of Settlers and Smallholders in 1932. Päts was the speaker of the Riigikogu (1922–1923) and served five times as State Elder, a type of executive president elected by and dependent on parliament (1921–1922, 1923–1924, 1931–1932, 1932–1933, and 1933–1934). During his last term as State Elder, he organized a ''coup d'etat'' to neutralise the right-wing populist Vaps Movement. He was supported by the army and the parliament. During the authoritarian regime ("Era of Silence"), many reforms were made and the economy grew. Päts ruled as Prime Minister in duties of the State Elder (1934–1937) and President-Regent (1937–1938) until a new constitution was adopted in 1938, after which Päts became the first President of Estonia. During his presidency, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia in 1940. As President, he was forced to sign decrees for over a month, until he was finally arrested and deported to Russia, where he died in 1956. ==Family== The Päts family originates from Holstre near Viljandi in the Governorate of Livonia. The family name "Päts" means a "loaf" in Estonian and is thought to derive from their ancestors from the beginning of the 18th century, who distributed free bread from their mill during a famine. The mill was initially named the Päts Mill and later "Päts" (originally "Paets") was adopted as an official surname.〔(Pimeduse katte all leidis teenekas mees viimase puhkepaiga abikaasa kõrval ) ''Pärnu Postimees'', 4 March 2005.〕 The father of Konstantin, Jakob (Jaagup) Päts (1842-1909), was a housebuilder from Heimtali, near Viljandi. Konstantin's mother, Olga Päts (''née'' Tumanova; 1847-1914), was from a mixed Estonian-Russian family and as an orphan grew up with foster parents in the Razumovsky family, where the father, her uncle, was the mayor of Valga. It is also claimed that she grew up with the Krüdener family, where the father, Baron Krüdener, was his uncle; however it is more likely that she served the Krüdener family later as a governess. Jakob and Olga met while they were both in the service of the Krüdener family.〔 Konstantin had an older brother Nikolai (1871-1940), three younger brothers Paul (1876-1881), Voldemar (1878-1958) and Peeter (1880-1942) and a younger sister Marianne (1888-1947). Since their mother Olga was raised in a wealthy Russian family, their father Jakob converted from Lutheranism to Eastern Orthodox Christianity. The children were all brought up in strong Orthodox traditions and were said to have a realistic mindset, just like their parents.〔 The family initially lived in Viljandi. Jakob was among the peasant activists during the Estonian national awakening, who pleaded to Emperor Alexander II against the oppression by Baltic German nobility in 1865. After this, he came into conflict with the local nobility and was forced to move to Tahkuranna, near Pärnu, in 1873. As Konstantin's father was unable to find a job in Tahkuranna, the family moved to a rental apartment Pärnu in 1882. Three years later Jakob bought himself land in Raeküla near Pärnu, where they initially lived in the roadside Petlema Tavern, but built a new house after the tavern burned down. Jakob divided his land into smaller lots and built half a dozen new houses to the site that eventually grew into a borough and later a district of Pärnu.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Konstantin Päts」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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