Lennart Meri

Lennart Georg Meri (IPA: ˈlennɑr̺t ˈg̥eɔrg̥ ˈmer̺i) (March 29, 1929 – March 14, 2006) was a writer, film director and politician who served as President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was a leader of the Estonian independence movement. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (573x900, 130 KB) Summary Lennart Meri, President of Estonia, during a visit to the Pentagon on January 15, 1998. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (573x900, 130 KB) Summary Lennart Meri, President of Estonia, during a visit to the Pentagon on January 15, 1998. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... March 29 is the 88th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (89th in Leap years). ... 1929 (MCMXXIX) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The term writer can apply to anyone who creates a written work, but the word more usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, or those who have written in many different forms. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... The President of Estonia is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ...

Early life

He was born in Tallinn, a son of the Estonian diplomat and later Shakespeare translator Georg Meri. With his family, Lennart left Estonia at an early age and studied abroad, in nine different schools and in four different languages. His warmest memories were from his school years in Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris. In addition to his native Estonian, Lennart Meri spoke five other languages: Finnish, French, German, English and Russian. County Harju County Mayor Jüri Ratas Area 159. ... This page is about negotiations; for the board game, see Diplomacy (game). ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Lycée Janson de Sailly is a lycée located in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris, France. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city For other uses, see Paris (disambiguation). ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

However, the family was in Tallinn when Estonia was occupied by the armed forces of the Soviet Union in June 1940. In 1941, the Meri family was deported to Siberia along with thousands of other Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians sharing the same fate. Heads of the family were separated from their families and shut into concentration camps where few survived. At the age of twelve, Lennart Meri worked as a lumberman in Siberia. He also worked as a potato peeler and a rafter to support his family. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1940 calendar). ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1941 calendar). ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Siberia is also an album by Echo & The Bunnymen. ...

Whilst in exile, Lennart Meri grew interested in the other Finno-Ugric languages that he heard around him, the language family of which his native Estonian is also a part. His interest in the ethnic and cultural kinship amongst the scattered Finno-Ugric family had been a life-long theme within his work. Geographical distribution of Finno-Ugric (Finno-Permic in blue, Ugric in green). ...

The Meri family survived and found their way back to Estonia, where Lennart Meri graduated cum laude from the Faculty of History and Languages of the University of Tartu in 1953. On March 5, 1953, the day that Stalin died, he proposed to his first wife Regina Meri, saying "Let us remember this happy day forever." The politics of the Soviet Union did not allow him to work as a historian, so Meri found work as a dramatist in the Vanemuine, the oldest theatre of Estonia, and later on as a producer of radio plays in the Estonian broadcasting industry. Several of his films were released to great critical acclaim. The University of Tartu (Estonian: Tartu Ãœlikool, German: Universität Dorpat) is the national university of Estonia, and the one classical university in Estonia, located in the city of Tartu. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1953 calendar). ... Iosif (usually anglicized as Joseph) Vissarionovich Stalin (Russian: Иосиф Виссарионович Сталин), original name Ioseb Jughashvili (Georgian: იოსებ ჯუღაშვილი; see Other names section) (December 21, 1879[1] – March 5, 1953) was a Bolshevik revolutionary and leader of the Soviet Union. ... For most of the history of the Soviet Union, its political system was characterized by divergence between the formal system as expressed in the Constitution of the Soviet Union and actual practice. ... A historian is a person who studies history. ... A dramatist is an author of dramatic compositions, usually plays. ... Vanemuine is the oldest theatre in Estonia. ... A radio producer oversees the making of a radio show. ... Film may refer to: photographic film a motion picture in academics, the study of motion pictures as an art form a thin skin or membrane, or any covering or coating, whether transparent or opaque a thin layer of liquid, either on a solid or liquid surface or free-standing Film...

Writer and filmmaker

After a trip to the Tian Shan Mountains in Central Asia and the old Islamic centres in the Kara Kum Desert in 1958, Lennart Meri wrote his first book, which met with a warm reception from the public. Already as a student, Lennart Meri had been able to earn his living with his writing, after his father had been arrested by the Soviet authorities for the third time. With the help of his younger brother who had been forced to leave his studies and take a job as a taxi driver, he managed to support their mother and to complete his own studies. The film The Winds of the Milky Way (Estonian: Linnutee tuuled), shot in co-operation with Finland and Hungary, was banned in the Soviet Union, but won a silver medal at the New York Film Festival. In Finnish schools, his films and texts were used as study materials. In 1986, Lennart Meri was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Helsinki University. He became a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union in 1963. In the 1970s, he was elected an Honorary Member of the Finnish Literary Society. The Tian Shan (Chinese: 天山; Pinyin: Tiān Shān; celestial mountains) mountain range is located in Central Asia, in the border region of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of western China. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For the desert in Kazakhstan, see Aral Karakum. ... 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Film Festival is the one of the United Statess most prestigious film festivals, first held in 1962 in New York. ... 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... University of Helsinki is not to be confused with Helsinki University of Technology. ... 1963 (MCMLXIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1963 calendar). ...

Tulemägede Maale, created in 1964, which is translated as To the Land of Fiery Mountains, chronicled Meri's journey to Kamchatka in the 1960s. Other members of his expedition group included geologists, botanists, a photographer, and the artist Kalju Polli. "Traveling is the only passion that doesn't need to feel shy in front of intellect," wrote Meri. Urban people still have an inner urge to see the world, hunger for nature. Meri did not underestimate the drawbacks of mass tourism but concluded that "science will liberate us from the chains of big cities and lead us back to nature." 1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...

Meri's travel book of his journey to the northeast passage, Virmaliste Väraval (At the Gate of the Northern Lights) (1974), won him huge success in the Soviet Union. It was translated into Finnish in 1977 in the Soviet Writers series, which also introduced to Finnish readers works by the Estonian writers Mats Traat, Lilli Promet, and Ülo Tuulik. In the book Meri combined the present with a perspective into history, and used material from such explorers as Cook, Forster, Wrangel, Dahl, Sauer, Middendorff, Cochran, and others. When he sees a mountain rising against the stormy sky of the Bering Strait, he realizes that Vitus Bering and James Cook had looked at the same mountain, but from the other side of the strait. 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (the link is to a full 1974 calendar). ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ... Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (October 22, 1729 - December 9, 1798) was a German naturalist of Scottish descent. ... Baron Ferdinand von Wrangel, in Russian: Ferdinand Petrovich Vrangel (Фердинанд Петрович Врангель), (December 29, 1796 (January 9, 1797), Pskov, Russia — May 25 (June 6), 1870, Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia)), Baltic German navigator, admiral, Honorable Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. ... Alexander Theodor von Middendorff (or Александр Федорович Миддендорф (for Russians)) (August 6, 1815 - January 16, 1894) was a Russian zoologist and explorer of Baltic-German origin. ... Vitus Bering Vitus Jonassen Bering (also, less correctly, Behring) (August 1681–December 19, 1741) was a Danish-born navigator in the service of the Russian Navy, a captain-komandor known among the Russian sailors as Ivan Ivanovich. ... James Cook, portrait by Nathaniel Dance, c. ...

Meri's best known work is perhaps Hõbevalge, which translates into Silver White and was published in 1976. It reconstructs the history of Estonia and the Baltic Sea region. The Estonian language belongs to the Baltic-Finnic group of the Finno-Ugric languages and Estonian is closely related to Finnish and distantly related to Hungarian. As in his other works, Meri combines documentary sources and scientific research with his imagination. "If geography is prose, maps are iconography," Meri writes. Hõbevalge is based on a wide-ranging ancient seafaring sources, and carefully unveils the secret of the legendary Ultima Thule. The name was given in classical times to the most northerly land, reputedly six days' voyage from Britain. Several alternative places for its location have been suggested, among them the Shetland Islands, Iceland, and Norway. According to Meri, it is possible that Thule derives from the old folk poetry of Estonia, which depicts the birth of the crater lake in Kaali, Saaremaa. In the essay Tacituse tahtel (2000), Meri examined ancient contacts between Estonia and the Roman empire and notes that furs, amber, and especially Livonian kiln-dried, disease-free grain may have been Estonia's biggest contribution to the common culture of Europe - in lean years, it provided seed grain for Europe. 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1976 calendar). ... The Estonian language (Estonian: eesti keel) is spoken by about 1. ... Baltic-Finnic languages are a subgroup of Finno-Ugric languages, spoken around the Baltic Sea by about 6 million people. ... Thule is in classic sources a place, usually an island, in the far north, often Scandinavia. ... Kaali is a small group of 8 meteor craters in Saaremaa, Estonia. ... This article is about the island. ...

Meri founded the non-governmental Estonian Institute (Eesti Instituut) in 1988 to promote cultural contacts with the West and to send Estonian students to study abroad. 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Political activity

After more than twenty years of refusals, the Soviet administration finally gave permission for Lennart Meri to travel beyond the Iron Curtain in the late 1970s, and Meri persistently used the opportunities open to him in Finland to remind the free world of the existence of Estonia. He established close relationships with politicians, journalists and Estonians who had fled from the occupation. He was the first Estonian to publicise abroad the protests against the Soviet plan of mining phosphorite in Estonia, which would have rendered a third of the country uninhabitable. Countries behind Iron Curtain are shaded red. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The El Chino Mine located near Silver City, New Mexico is an open-pit copper mine This article is about mineral extraction. ... Apatite is a group of minerals, usually referring to: hydroxylapatite, fluorapatite, and chlorapatite, named for high concentrations of OH-, F-, or Cl- ions, respectively, in the crystal lattice. ...

In Estonia, environmental protests soon grew into a general revolt against Soviet rule: "the Singing Revolution", which was led by Estonian intellectuals. Lennart Meri’s speech "Have Estonians Got Hope" focused on the existential problems of the nation and had strong repercussions abroad. In 1988, Meri became a founding member of the Popular Front, which cooperated with its counterparts in Latvia and Lithuania. After the first non-communist-style election in 1990, Meri was appointed to the post of Foreign Minister. As Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lennart Meri’s first task was to create the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He developed around him a group of well educated young people, many English speaking, in order to establish an open communication channel to the West, and at the same time to represent Estonia more widely on the international scene. He participated in the CSCE Conferences in Copenhagen, New York, Paris, Berlin and Moscow, and the foundation conference of the Council of the Baltic Sea Countries. He also had several meetings with American and European Heads of State and Foreign Ministers, and was the first Eastern European guest to give a presentation at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. A minister for foreign affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister that helps to form foreign policy for sovereign nations. ... A foreign minister is a cabinet minister that helps to form foreign policy for sovereign nations. ... The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is an international organization for security. ... Copenhagen (IPA: , rhyming with pagan, or , with a as in spa; Danish IPA: ) is the capital of Denmark and the countrys largest city (metropolitan population 1,115,035 (2006), at present made up of 16 municipalities. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq. ... The Eiffel Tower, the international symbol of the city For other uses, see Paris (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Berlin (disambiguation). ... Government Russia District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Mayor Yuri Luzhkov Geographical characteristics Area  - City 1,081 km² Population  - City (2005)    - Density 10,415,400   8537. ... NATO 2002 Summit in Prague The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance or the Western Alliance, is an international organisation for collective security established in 1949, in support of the North Atlantic Treaty signed in Washington, DC, on 4 April 1949. ... Map showing the location of Brussels in Belgium Brussels City Hall Emblem of the Brussels-Capital Region Flag of The City of Brussels Brussels (Dutch: Brussel, pronounced ; French: Bruxelles, pronounced in Belgian French and often by non-Belgian speakers of French; German: Brüssel) is the capital of Belgium, the...

After a brief period as Ambassador of Estonia to Finland, on October 6, 1992 he became the 2nd President of the Republic of Estonia. Meri was the candidate of the Isamaaliit "Pro Patria" Alliance. Although, on the first ballot, Arnold Rüütel, a former leading communist and Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Estonian SSR, had led with 42 per cent of the total vote, the final choice for the nomination was made by Parliament, the Riigikogu, which was dominated by the Pro Patria Alliance. During the campaign, the nationalist right tried to bring up questions about Meri's alleged former links with the KGB. However, these allegations did not harm Meri's reputation and public image. Lennart Meri was sworn in as the President on October 6, 1992. On September 20, 1996, he was re-elected for a second and final term. October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... The majority of this article is about heads of states. ... The Fatherland Union or Isamaaliit is a conservative nationalist political party in Estonia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... State motto: Kõigi maade proletaarlased, ühinege (Translated: Workers of the world, unite!) Official language Estonian, Russian (de facto) Capital Tallinn Chairman of the Supreme Council Arnold Rüütel (at the time of regaining independence) Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until July 21, 1940 August 6, 1940 August 20, 1991... States currently utilizing parliamentary systems are denoted in orange and red—the former being constitutional monarchies where authority is vested in a parliament, and the latter being parliamentary republics whose parliaments are effectively supreme over a separate head of state. ... Riigikogu is the name of the national parliament of Estonia. ... Pro Patria Calcio is an Italian football club, based in Busto Arsizio, Lombardy. ... The KGB emblem and motto: The sword and the shield KGB (transliteration of КГБ) is the Russian-language abbreviation for State Security Committee, (Russian: ; Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti). ... October 6 is the 279th day of the year (280th in leap years). ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ... September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Lennart Meri was married twice. His second wife Helle Meri (born in 1949) worked as an actress in the Estonian Drama Theatre until 1992. Lennart Meri’s first wife Regina Meri emigrated to Canada in 1987. Lennart Meri is survived by three children: sons Mart Meri (born in 1959) and Kristjan Meri (born in 1966) and daughter Tuule Meri (born in 1985), and four grandchildren. 1949 (MCMXLIX) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1949 calendar). ... 1987 (MCMLXXXVII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ... This article is about the year. ...

Lennart Meri was chosen the European of the Year in 1998 by French newspaper La Vie. 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

Meri meeting members of the public at the 2004 Song Festival in Tallinn

Diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in late 2005, he died on the morning of March 14, 2006, in a hospital in Tallinn. In a televised national speech, his successor, President Rüütel, said, "In his nine years as head of state, Meri both restored the presidency and built up the Republic of Estonia in the widest sense." Finnish President Tarja Halonen stated, "The Finnish nation lost in Lennart Meri a close and sincere friend and the world, a great statesman who was one of the leading architects of the post-Cold War world." Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga said, "the world has lost a great Estonian, a great statesman and a true European." [1] [2]. Meri's funeral was participated among others by former Swedish premier Carl Bildt (his speech [3]). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (405x800, 69 KB) Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Lennart Meri Talk:Lennart Meri Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (405x800, 69 KB) Licensing File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Lennart Meri Talk:Lennart Meri Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... March 14 is the 73rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (74th in leap years) with 292 days remaining in the year. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... County Harju County Mayor Jüri Ratas Area 159. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Tarja Kaarina Halonen (born December 24, 1943) is the President of Finland. ... Vaira VÄ«Ä·e-Freiberga Vaira VÄ«Ä·e-Freiberga (born December 1, 1937 in Riga, Latvia) is the current president of Latvia. ... (help· info) (born July 15, 1949) is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. ...

Work for German refugees and for other victims of ethnic cleansing

Lennart Meri was engaged in the work for the human rights of German refugees from Central and Eastern Europe and other victims of ethnic cleansing in Europe, and was a member of the jury of the Franz Werfel Human Rights Award, which was awarded by the Centre Against Expulsions (Zentrum gegen Vertreibungen). In 1999 he received the highest distinction of the Federation of Expellees (Bund der Vertriebenen). This article or section is missing references or citation of sources. ... The Franz Werfel Human Rights Award (German: Franz-Werfel-Menschenrechtspreis) is one of the most prestigous international human rights awards in Europe. ... The Centre Against Expulsions (ger. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

References

• Washington Post "Estonia's Ex-President Lennart Meri Dies" March 14, 2006
• Lennart Meri, portrait of a President - Baltic States City Paper
• Encyclopedia Britannica Lennart Meri
• Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Volume 6: World Leaders, 10th ed. Gale Group, 2001.

Bibliography

• 1964 – "Tulemägede maale" (To the Land of Fiery Mountains)
• 1974 – "Virmaliste väraval" (At the Gate of Northern Light)
• 1976 – "Hõbevalge" (Silverwhite)
• 1977 – "Lähenevad rannad" (Nearing Shores)
• 1984 – "Hõbevalgem"

Awards and Merits

• Merited Writer of Estonian SSR (1979)
• Correspondent member of the European Academy of Science, Art and Literature (1989)
• Honorary Doctor of Helsinki University (1986)
• Liberal International and Coudenhove-Kalergi award

The Liberal International is an international organization for international liberal parties. ...

External links

• Article on Lennart Meri at kirjasto.sci.fi
• BBC article "Estonia mourns ex-president Meri"

The Minister of Foreign Affairs is the senior minister at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Estonian: Eesti Vabariigi Välsmisteerium) in the Estonian Government. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... The President of Estonia is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Heads of State of Estonia
First Republic of Estonia Piip | Päts | Kukk | Päts | Akel | Jaakson | Teemant | Tõnisson | Rei | Strandman | Päts | Teemant | Eenpalu | Päts | Tõnisson | Päts Republic of Estonia in Exile (1940–1992) Uluots | Rei | Warma | Kint | Mark Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic Vares | Andresen | Päll | Jakobson | Eichfeld | Müürisepp | Ansberg | Vader | Vannas | Käbin | Rüütel Second Republic of Estonia Meri | Rüütel The President of Estonia is the head of state of the Republic of Estonia. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Estonia. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... Jaan Tõnisson (22 December 1868 - Unknown) was an Estonian politician, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920 and as the Foreign Minister of Estonia from 1931 to 1932. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... Kaarel Eenpalu, until 1935 Karl August Einbund (28 May 1888 in Tartu County, Estonia - 27/28 January 1942, Kirov Oblast, Russia) was an Estonian journalist, politician and head of state. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... Jaan Tõnisson (22 December 1868 - Unknown) was an Estonian politician, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920 and as the Foreign Minister of Estonia from 1931 to 1932. ... Konstantin Päts Konstantin Päts (February 23, 1874 - January 18, 1956) was a politician and the first President of Estonia. ... Jüri Uluots (January 13, 1890 - January 9, 1945) was an Estonian prime minister, journalist, and prominent attorney. ... Johannes Vares (12 January 1890 (O.S. 31 December 1891) - November 29, 1946) was an Estonian poet, doctor, and politician. ... Johannes Käbin (born 24 September 1905 – died 26 October 1999) was a Soviet politician who led the Estonian Communist Party from 1950 to 1978. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...