Karl Vaino

Karl Genrikhovich Vaino (Russian: Карл Генрихович Вайно; born 28 May 1923 in Tomsk, Russia) is a former Estonian SSR politician. From July 26, 1978 to June 16, 1988 he was the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Estonia.[1] His grandson is Russian politician Anton Vaino.[2]

Having lived his early life in Russia, Vaino did not speak Estonian very well, and did so with a thick Russian accent. For this, he was considered to be perfect for the role of First Secretary. On July 26, 1978, the incumbent First Secretary of the past 28 years, Johannes Käbin, who was considered to be too moderate for the ongoing Era of Stagnation Russification, was forced to resign from his post and was replaced by Vaino.

As the First secretary, Vaino acquired a reputation of being an extreme Russificator. With a dismissive attitude towards Estonian language and culture, he was not popular amongst Estonians. He delivered public speeches mostly in Russian, one notable exception being at the 350th anniversary of Tartu State University, where he presented awards to university workers, speaking in Estonian with a thick Russian accent.

In early 1988, the CPE split into national communists and internationalists. Vaino was the leader of the latter, while the former was led by then-Soviet ambassador to Nicaragua Vaino Väljas. Being considered too conservative by the Moscow elite, after almost 10 years, Vaino was forced to resign from his post on June 16, 1988, and replaced with Väljas. Vaino would then move to Moscow, where he had lived ever since. He has not visited Estonia ever since.