Chapter 8.5: Education and science

The main focus of the educational policy became the increase in the quality of general education. The entire education system was transferred to Estonian in 1919, in the same year a 4 year mandatory school was established. Only a year later it was extended to 6 years. Studying materials and curriculums were modernised and renewed, hundreds of new schools were built and many more old schools were renovated. For example, only in 1937 there were 13 new school buildings completed and in the same year roughly 20 were under construction.

During the 1920s there was a big push amongst students to get into high schools, the number of people with high school education increased from 2.5% in 1922 to 5% ten years later. That number was one of the highest in Europe at the time, ahead of countries like Finland, Sweden and Germany. Whilst the mandatory primary school was free of charge, high school education required tuition. Despite that the high schoolers came from a multitude of backgrounds, from the children of statesmen to workers. Charities were founded, which would deal with tuition and study materials cost for poorer but gifted children.

However at the end of the 1920s calls about the overproduction of highly educated intellectuals were made and a fear arose that many high schoolers would not be able to find jobs after they graduated. A way to deal with this was to improve vocational education, so more school children would choose to become craftsmen. The quality of vocational education was improved and as a result its prestige increased. The push for high schools calmed down.



The French Lyceum, built in 1937, established in 1921. After Estonia had become independent, German remained as the main foreign language in education, but over time the importance of English and French increased as well.



Hiiu Primary School, opened in 1939.



A wooden countryside school getting built.



Malvaste Primary School, opened in 1930.



Rääma Primary School in Pärnu, opened in 1929.



Elfriede Lender Girl´s High School in Tallinn, built in 1935. During the time the mixed schools became dominant, however in larger cities there remained some only girl´s and only boy´s schools.



Tallinn 21st High School, built in 1924.




Rakvere Gymnasium, built in 1939.


A lesson in the nature class at Gustav Adolfi Gymnasium at the end of 1930s.



A woodwork class in Viljandi Gymnasium.



Students in the chemistry class of Paide Commerce School.



The girls volleyball team in Rakvere Gymnasium.

The process of becoming and the demands for teachers were regulated by the state. When taking up the profession the teacher had to give an oath, they were expected to have high professional ethics, political neutrality and tolerance of different religious views and ethnicities. The profession was held in high regard and the pay was generous.

To prepare primary school teachers, 5 teachers seminars were opened in Tallinn, Tartu, Rakvere, Võru and Haapsalu. Seminars were a special kind of high school, which were one year longer than a normal high school. In addition to high school education, the students would also receive the training for becoming a teacher. As the seminars were free of tuition, they were a popular choice amongst children of poorer backgrounds. High school teachers were prepared in the University of Tartu and required normal high school education.

The entrance exams at the seminars were very strict, lasting for several days, including musical and physical trials as well as all kinds of tests of knowledge. The selection process was strict as the number of attendees was generally four times higher than the number of spots. It also meant that the most dedicated and determined students would become teachers. The seminars were known for their progressive spirit and provided a strong practical base as all aspirational teachers were able to either visit or teach at lectures at the so called “exercise schools”, which were established at each seminar. New subjects like pedagogical psychology and experimental pedagogy also meant that the new generation of teachers were much more student oriented than the strict and authoritarian teachers of the Russian era.

On the 1st of December 1919 the University of Tartu became an Estonian university, with the first lectures being held in Estonia already taking place on the 6th of October. In following years the number of Estonian professors and students boomed, and the importance of national topics such as linguistics, folklore, literature and history increased greatly. The number of students increased from about 2.5 thousand in 1921 to 3 thousand in 1937. About a quarter of students were female. The number of faculties increased from 6 to 9.



The grand opening of Tartu University as the national university of Estonia.


The 300th anniversary of the university in 1932.

Other establishments of higher education appeared as well. In 1919 the Tallinn Higher Music School and the Art University of Pallas (in Tartu) were established. The former became the Tallinn Conservatory in 1923. The Lavakunstikool (Stage Art School) was established as part of the former in 1937. Both the Tartu Higher Music School and The Tallinn Industrial Art School were established in 1920, the Higher War School in 1923. The Tallinn College of Engineering was created in 1920, in 1936 it became the Tallinn University of Technology.



Tartu University students in the physics lab.


A lecture at Tartu University.


The opening of the Tallinn University of Technology.



A lecture in the Tallinn University of Technology.

Students of the Sculpture Department in Pallas.

At first many scientific fields had a lack of Estonian intellectuals, so foreign professors, primarily from Sweden and Finland were invited here. Over time the graduates in those fields would take the place of the foreign born professors and by the end of 1930s Estonia had a multitude of new scientific disciplines.



One such field was archeology. The first professor of archeology in Estonia was a Finn by the name Tallgren, who quickly learned Estonian and became the father of both Estonian archeology and heritage protection. In this picture you can see him conducting a seminar with the first generation of Estonian archeology students in 1922.



An archeological excavation in Kivisaare in the 1920s.

Estonian became a scientific language for the first time. Figures such as Johannes Voldemar Veski and Johannes Aavik created new vocabulary in Estonian for both everyday and scientific concepts, as well as made great efforts into exploring the grammar.



Johannes Aavik (1880-1973, died in exile).



Ernst Öpik (1893-1985, died in exile). Ernst Öpik made his mark in astronomy, amongst other things proving the existence of thermonuclear reactions in stars in 1937 and predicting the existence of a cloud of comets on the outskirts of the solar system in 1932. However he was unfortunately not a big publicist so his findings remained unknown in the wider scientific world. One example of the consequences was that in 1950 a Dutch astronomer by the name of Jan Oort proposed the same idea that Öpik had in 1932, however his publication became well known and as a result the cloud of comets is referred to as the Oort Cloud, not the Öpik Cloud.




Teodor Lippmaa (1892-1943, died in a bombing raid) was the leading Estonian botanist and the father of nature protection in Estonia.


Johan Vilip (1870-1942), the father of Estonian physics. (Fun fact, during his lifetime he examined no less than 5 thousand physics students) Became known for his work in seismology, in 1926 he designed the most accurate seismographs of the time, which were produced in Estonia and sent out to over 20 leading seismology stations across the world.



Ludvig Puusepp (1875-1942), a world famous surgeon and the founder of neurosurgery as a separate medical field. In 1910 became the world's first professor of neurosurgery in St. Petersburg, in 1920 moved to Estonia and became the professor of neurosurgery at the University of Tartu and a year later also the director of the Hospital of Nervous Diseases, the only one of its kind in the Baltics.



Karl Schlossmann (1885-1969, died in exile). The father of Estonian microbiology.

Between 1932 and 1937 the first Estonian encyclopaedia (Eesti Entsüklopeedia) was released in 8 volumes, including over 75 thousand articles and with more that 400 contributors.



The editorial board of Eesti Entsüklopeedia in 1934.


A full set of the first Estonian encyclopaedia.

In 1938 the Estonian Academy Of Science (Eesti Teaduste Akadeemia) was established to act as a central organisation for scientific research in Estonia. 20 leading scientists were chosen as the first academics. The inception of this institution finalised the advancement of the scientific scene in Estonia into a well organised, professional and most importantly national structure.