Korporatsioon Vironia Explained

Korporatsioon Vironia
Crest:Coat of arms of corporation Vironia.png
Motto:Ühisus, kindlus, ausus
("Unity, fortitude, honesty")
Colors: Violet Black White
Founded:(O.S.)
Birthplace: Riga Polytechnical Institute, Riga, Livonia, Russian Empire
Status:Active
Scope:International
Chapters:3
Colonies:1
Lifetime:600
Publication:Õllevikk
Address:Falgi tee 3, Tallinn, Estonia
Lai 30, Tartu, Estonia
310 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Homepage:Korporatsioon Vironia
Type:Studentenverbindung
Affiliation:EKL

Korporatsioon Vironia (abbreviated korp! Vironia or C!V!) is an Estonian fraternal student society and the oldest student corps in Estonia. The organization is named after the Latin name for the ancient Estonian county of Virumaa. A full member of the organization is called a "vironus" (abbr. "vir!"), while every member can also be called a "Vironian" (viroonlane).

History

Vironia was officially founded at the Riga Polytechnical Institute on as the very first ethnic Estonian student corps. It remained the only Estonian student corps in Riga and became also the only Estonian member of the two Baltic German corps federations (Chargierten-Convent) in the Baltic governorates. Vironia was also the initiator and the co-founder of the League of Estonian Corporations (EKL) in 1915.

After a brief evacuation to Moscow during World War I in 1915 and a short return to Riga in 1918, Vironia entered the Estonian War of Independence in corpore. 6 of its members died in the war and one died of war injuries after the war. It was reactivated in Tartu, Estonia in 1920 and opened a second chapter in Tallinn in 1936.

After being banned following the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states in 1940, it opened 8 colonies abroad in 6 Western countries and there was also unofficial activity in Venezuela. Underground activity in occupied Estonia was restored in the 1960s and the chapters in Tallinn and Tartu were legally restored in 1989.

Today, Vironia has more than 550 members worldwide, being among the biggest Estonian student organizations. Active chapters are in Tallinn and Tartu in Estonia, Toronto, and the US West Coast.

Foreign relations

Vironia retains good relations with all non-Baltic German members of the former Riga Chargierten-Convent:

Of these, Vironia also has cartel agreements with Welecja (signed 1936) and Fraternitas Arctica (signed 2010). Vironia has also signed cartel agreements with the Karjalainen Osakunta in Helsinki (1930) and is currently an active member of the League of Estonian Corporations, having also signed a cartel agreement with Fraternitas Estica (2009). Unofficial relations since the exile period are retained with the Västmanlands-Dala Nation in Uppsala, Sweden, and since the 2010s with in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Chapters

Notable members

Academia

Art and architecture

Business

Military

Politics