15 euro – 150th anniversary of the birth of Otto Strandman

On 4 December Eesti Pank will release a silver collector coin to mark the 150th anniversary of the birth of Otto Strandman, who served as the first Chair of the Riigikogu, Head of State, Prime Minister and diplomat. Strandman was Prime Minister in the fourth government of the Republic of Estonia and Head of State under the 19th government. He was a lawyer, politician and diplomat who steered the Estonian economy in a new and sustainable direction. Otto Strandman (1875–1941) was born in the village of Vandu in the Kadrina district and was an outstanding statesman. He was prominent at a time when the Estonian state was being founded and the future of the Estonian people was being decided. His successful political career started immediately after the tsarist regime collapsed, and he became one of the main drivers of the idea of autonomy for Estonia. Otto Strandman became Prime Minister in 1919 in the first parliamentary government in Estonia, and first Chair of the Riigikogu in 1921. He later served as Head of State in 1929–1931. His clear-sighted and decisive actions as Minister of Finance in 1924 brought the young Estonian state out of an economic crisis, and he played a key part in the preparations for the change in currency from the Estonian mark to the kroon. Strandman served as an Estonian diplomat to foreign countries on multiple occasions, in Central Europe in 1927–1929 and in Western Europe in 1933–1939. His diplomatic career benefited notably from his skill as a raconteur in society’s salons and his gentlemanly manners. He also demonstrated his powers of persuasion in domestic political settings from the courtroom to the Riigikogu.