Jaan Anvelt

Jaan Anvelt (in Russian Ян Анвельт, also known by the pseudonyms Eessaare Aadu, Jaan Holm, Jaan Hulmu, Kaarel Maatamees, Onkel Kaak or Н. Альтъ; 18 April 1884 – 11 December 1937), was a Soviet revolutionary, leader of the Communist Party of Estonia, the first Premier of Soviet Estonia, and the Chairman of the Council of The Commune of the Working People of Estonia (Estonian Eesti Töörahva Kommuun). Imprisoned during Joseph Stalin's Great Purge in 1937, he died from the injuries sustained during a beating while in custody by Aleksandr Ivanovich Langfang.

Anvelt was born to a peasant family in Oorgu, Võisiku Parish (now in Kolga-Jaani Parish), Viljandi County, Governorate of Livonia. He studied to become a schoolteacher, beginning in Dorpat (now Tartu), and then in St. Petersburg, where he joined the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party's Bolshevik faction. He was employed as a schoolteacher from 1905 to 1907, concurrently being involved in revolutionary activity. From 1907 to 1912, Anvelt studied part-time as a student of jurisprudence at St. Petersburg University.