Kleio

“Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal” is a bilingual (Estonian-English) peer-reviewed academic journal that is focused primarily on the history of Estonia and the Baltic region. The journal appears four times a year. The articles published in the journal are abstracted and indexed in ABC-Clio Historical Abstracts.

The history of “Ajalooline Ajakiri” goes back to 1922 when the first issue was published by the Academic History Society in Tartu. The journal was closed down in 1940 due to the Soviet occupation and was subsequently reorganized into a Soviet-style journal called “Ajaloo ajakiri”. Only three issues appeared before the final closure of the journal during the World War II.
The ideas to revive the journal had popped up among Tartu University historians already in the 1970s, but it was only during the liberalization of the Soviet regime in the second half of the 1980s that it became possible to realize these ideas in practice. In 1989 the first issue of the journal appeared under the title “Kleio” (it was not yet possible to declare the continuity with the independence-era journal). Since 1995 Kleio was published four times a year.
In 1998 the Foundation “Kleio” was established for the publication of the journal. In the same year the continuity with the pre-war journal was declared. Instead of the 23rd issue of “Kleio”, the 100th issue of “Ajalooline Ajakiri” was published.
Professor Aadu Must, the leading figure behind the refoundation of the journal, acted as the Editor for almost twenty years (1988-2006). In 2006 the editorship was assumed by Pärtel Piirimäe. This brought about several changes in the look and the character of the journal. The journal became bilingual, bearing the new title “Ajalooline Ajakiri. The Estonian Historical Journal”. The first issue that contains articles both in Estonian and in English is the special issue “The History of Peasantry and Agriculture in Estonia (2007, 3/4).