Rotary Club of Tartu

The club was founded in 1932. The first meeting of the future Rotary Club of Tartu took place on 19 April 1932 at the apartment of barrister Oskar Rütli. From there on meetings were held at the cafeteria of the Vanemuine Theatre.

At those meeting lectures covering a variety of subjects, from local and national education policy, news was presented in the fields of telephony, television and military technology, and fine arts to travel stories from near and far places. For example, Professor Ludvig Puusepp – the father of world neurosurgery – delivered a number of presentations on neuropathological conditions and neurosurgery.

On 23 and 24 May 1936 lots of club members participated in the Rotary Conference of the Baltic States held in Kaunas. Edvard Johanson, president of Rotary International, was also present. The club decided to honour him with a collection titled “Tartu”.

On 17 October 1936 the president of Swedish Rotary clubs visited Tallinn and on 7 November the president of the Rotary Club of Riga followed suit.

Among other activities the Club supported the most gifted students of Tartu vocational schools by awarding prizes for their best works, artists and art students by buying their works of art, the soon-to-be-founded Tartu Philharmonic Society with donations and talented actors in Tartu by awarding travel scholarships.

At the last meeting of the Rotary Club for the year 1937/1938 colonel Kurvits delivered the lecture “Estonia in the Turmoil of a Potential War.” Summertime meetings were held in the Toome cafeteria or at Narva-Jõesuu beach.

At the start of the Rotary year of 1938/1939 a delegation of three representatives was sent to Stockholm to the conference of Scandinavian Rotary clubs.

One of the first lectures delivered during the Rotary year of 1939/1940 analysed the reasons behind Poland’s defeat. At the last spring meeting participation in the Baltic Rotary Days and the organisation of a Rotary Week was considered.

A recurring theme in the numerous letters that the Club received from all over the world during those years was the need for better mutual understanding in order to maintain peace.

As of 28 May 1940 the Rotary Club of Tartu had 22 members.

The Rotary year of 1940/1941 started with the occupation of the Republic of Estonia by the Red Army and its incorporation into the Soviet Union. With the decision of the public defence commander of the puppet government the Rotary Club of Tartu was dissolved as from 7 September 1940 with a number of other similar organisations whose (quote from the decision) “activities would run counter to the interests of the working class or would be considered useless under new circumstances.”

After Estonia regained independence in 1991, two men – the first two presidents of the future re-established Club – were introduced to this movement in Finland and Sweden and, as a result, they started to look for prospective members. None of the pre-war members of the Club were found to be alive – one had passed away recently and all others had perished in Siberia or the gulags or had died in exile. So at first the Club was registered as a new club and its charter was adopted on 26 April 1992 in the concert hall of the Vanemuine Theatre. The godfather club is Turku RC. However, pre-war foundation documents were later discovered at Evanston's and so the continuity of the Club was restored. In spring 2010 the Club had 71 members.

This brief history written by RGHF Member Peeter Saari, Secretary of the Club in 2010/2011, is based on the history of the Club compiled by Kaljo Mitt, president of the Club in 1992/1993.