Klauson, Valter Ivanovich

Born Dec. 20, 1913 (Jan. 2, 1914), in the present-day settlement of Tolmachevo, Luga Raion, Leningrad Oblast. Soviet statesman and party figure. Became a member of the CPSU in 1943. He graduated in 1965 from the Higher Party School under the Central Committee of the CPSU. The son of a worker.

Klauson graduated from a highway technicum in 1933 and was technical director and chief of a mechanized highways detachment engaged in the construction of bridges, highways, and railroads. From 1941 to 1944 he commanded a company and a battalion on the Volkhov, Northwest, and Baltic fronts. He worked for the Highways Administration of the Estonian SSR from 1944 to 1953. In 1953–54 he was minister of motor vehicle transport and highways of the Estonian SSR. From 1954 to 1961 he was first deputy chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Estonian SSR, becoming chairman in October 1961. At the Twenty-second through Twenty-fourth Congresses of the party, he was elected a candidate member of the Central Committee of the CPSU. He was a deputy of the fifth through ninth convocations of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. He has been awarded three Orders of Lenin, three other orders, and medals.