August Rei was born in Kurla, Pilistvere parish, Kreis Fellin (now Türi Parish, Järva County). He began studying at Emperor Alexander High School in Tartu, but abandoned his studies there in December 1902, in order to forestall his expulsion after participating in Estonian nationalist circles. He continued his studies at Novgorod State High School, graduating in 1904. In 1904–1905 and 1907–1911, he studied law at Saint Petersburg State University. During this time, he also translated works by socialist theoreticians such as Ferdinand Lassalle, Karl Kautsky and August Bebel to Estonian.
Beginnings of political influence
Rei participated in the Russian Revolution of 1905, taking part in the organization of an uprising at the cruiser Pamiat Azova in July 1906 and operating as an underground activist in Narva. In 1906, he edited the underground paper Sotsiaaldemokraat ("Social Democrat") in Tallinn. Between 1912 and 1913, he was in compulsory army service. In 1913–1914 he worked as a lawyer in Viljandi.
During World War I, Rei served as an artillery officer at the Peter and Paul Fortress in Saint Petersburg in 1914–1917. In 1917–1918 he organized the Estonian national army units, formed by the initiative of Estonian politicians after the Second Russian Revolution in March 1917. Rei was the head of the Judicial Department of the Estonian Military Headquarters, for a short time Secretary of the Higher Military Court, and a second lieutenant from 1918.
In 1917–1919, he was editor-in-chief of the paper Sotsiaaldemokraat, and between 1927 and 1928 he was the editor of Rahva Sõna ("Word of the People"). Rei was one of the leaders of the moderate faction of Estonia's social democratic movement. Aside of his later political career, he also worked as a lawyer in Tallinn up to 1936, and defended Ado Birk during his trial in 1927. He received a honorary doctorate in law from Tartu University.
Estonian independence
After the end of the German occupation of Estonia in September 1918, Rei was appointed Minister of Labour and Social Welfare in the Estonian Provisional Government. Between November 1918 and January 1919, he also served as Deputy Prime Minister under Konstantin Päts, and as Acting Minister of Education as a substitute of Karl Luts, as the latter was imprisoned in Russia and unable to exercise his functions. After a government reshuffle in February 1919, Rei served as a legal advisor in the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare.
Between December 1928 and July 1929, Rei was State Elder of Estonia; during his term, a trade agreement with the Soviet Union was signed, and he hosted a visit of the King of SwedenGustaf V to Estonia. Between 1930 and 1934, Rei was chairman of Tallinn City Council, as well as an advisor to the Ministry of Roads. Between November 1932 and May 1933, he served as Minister of Foreign Affairs in the government of Konstantin Päts. Between August 1936 and December 1937 he was Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and then Estonia's envoy to the Soviet Union in 1938–1940.
Rei died in Stockholm in 1963. In 2006, his urn, along with the urn of his wife Therese Rei, were moved from Bromma Cemetery in Stockholm to Metsakalmistu Cemetery in Tallinn.
Sotsialdemokraatia taktika põhimõtted Tallinnas : Tööliste kirjastusühisus, 1921 (Narva : Kärner) (in Estonian)
Have the Baltic countries voluntarily renounced their freedom : an exposé based on authentic documentary evidence by August Rei. New York : World Association of Estonians, 1944 (in English)
Have the small nations a right to freedom and independence? by August Rei. London : Boreas, 1946 (in English)
The drama of the Baltic peoples by August Rei; preface by Eugene Lyons. Stockholm: Vaba Eesti, 1970 (Åbo : Sydvästkusten) (in English)
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