Silver coin 15 euro Estonia 2023 – Konstantin Konik

The coin is dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Konik.
Konstantin Konik (1873 – 1936) – Estonian surgeon and politician, member of the Estonian Rescue Committee.
Konstantin Konik was born in 1873 in Tartu, where he graduated from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tartu in 1893. After university, he began working as a doctor, and during the Russo-Japanese War he worked at the Odessa Red Cross Hospital in Transbaikalia. Returning to his homeland, he continued his education at the wound clinic in Tartu and qualified as a doctor. In Tartu, Konik also became involved in political activities: he became one of the leading forces in Jaan Tõnisson’s Progress Party. However, at the beginning of 1909, Konstantin Konik moved to Tallinn and quickly became one of the most important national figures here. As a member of the Estonian Rescue Committee, he played an active role in the proclamation of the Republic of Estonia and the reading of the independence manifesto on February 24, 1918. After being imprisoned during the German occupation, Konik continued to work for Estonia’s independence. During the War of Liberation, he fought the spread of infectious diseases and participated in the work of a wound clinic. In independent Estonia, Konstantin Konik was mainly involved in medicine, but continued to be involved in politics. He was a member of the Constituent Assembly and from 1932 was a member of the Riigikogu, serving as Minister of Education and Social Affairs in Jaan Tõnisson’s fourth government. However, Konik’s main focus was on the independence of the Estonian medical profession: as the first Estonian surgeon and long-time dean of the Faculty of Medicine, he played a leading role in the development of the national medical profession.

Denomination: 15 euro
Weight: 28.28g
Diameter: 38.61mm
Metal: 925 silver
Issue limit: 3000
Packing: capsule, box

A certificate of authenticity is included.