OUR VERY OWN LENNART MERI
BEGIN
Lennart Meri, 1976. Photo by E. Köster National Archives of Estonia
1/10
How many countries has Lennart Meri attended school in?
Berlin, 1934. Photo: private collection
CORRECT ANSWER
Lennart Meri went to school in Estonia, France, Germany and Russia
Read more
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CONTINUE
Listen more
Tiergarten, Berlin, 1935. Photo: private collection
2/10
Georg Meri National Archives
Who was Lennart Meri's father Georg Meri?
A doctor
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=576873&q=georg+meri
A teacher
A diplomat and translator
CORRECT ANSWER
Georg Meri was a diplomat of the Republic of Estonia. In Soviet Estonia, he had acted as a translator.
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Lennart in Berlin with his mother and father, 1933. Photo: private collection
3/10
The writer and translator Lennart-Georg Meri playing the shaman's drum, ERM Fk 2644:5984, Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Estonia.
For which film did Lennart Meri win a silver medal for at the 1979 New York Film Festival?
https://opendata.muis.ee/object/1512451
"The Waterfowl People"
"Shaman"
"The Winds of Milky Way"
CORRECT ANSWER
Poster for the film "Winds of the Milky Way". Estonian Film Database
"The Winds of Milky Way" (est. "Linnutee tuuled") is a documentary about the ethnography and origins of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
https://www.efis.ee/film/3775
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Listen more
4/10
“Silverwhite” Author: Lennart Meri, Illustratotions by Heinz Valk
What is the subtitle of Lennart Meri's book “Silverwhite” in english?
Finds of Silver in Estonian Fields
https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/nlib-digar:894392
The Journey to the Fallen Sun
Estonian prehistory
CORRECT ANSWER
"Silverwhite: The Journey to the Fallen Sun" was originally published in 1976 and is the story of the Estonians, as well as other Finno-Ugric peoples. The english translation, made by Adam Cullen, was published in 2025.
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Listen more
In search of silver. Lennart Meri and archaeologist Vello Lõugas excavating in the Kaali main crater, May 1976. Photo by R. Kärner National Heritage Board archives
5/10
Foreign Minister Lennart Meri. Photo by T. Veermäe National Archives
One of the favourite sayings of Foreign Minister Lennart Meri was: “In the War of Independence, there were no...”. Who or what was not there?
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=409866&q=EFA.204.0.254712
rest days
cowards
idle chatter
CORRECT ANSWER
Foreign Minister Lennart Meri at the editorial office of Eesti Päevaleht in Stockholm in 1990 with editor-in-chief Juhan Koklaga. Estonian National Museum
“There were no rest days in the War of Independence,” said Lennart Meri, who was Foreign Minister from 1990 to 1992.
https://opendata.muis.ee/object/4037638
Read more
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
6/10
What did President Lennart Meri promise to do with the protocol should it be in his way?
Bow before it
Pick it up
Step over it
State visit to the Kingdom of Denmark, 12-14 April 1994. Office of the President photo archive
CORRECT ANSWER
Lennart Meri has said: "I have never been bothered by protocol. If it's in the way, I'll step over it. Le protocole, c'est moi."
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
See more
The President pays a state visit to India. Photo by E. Alatalu
7/10
“20 years of the Cross of Terra Mariana”. Office of the President of the Republic. Tallinn, 2015.
Who was the first recipient of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana from President Lennart Meri?
https://p.president.ee/sites/default/files/2023-10/MaarjamaaRist_web_0.pdf
US President Bill Clinton
Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari
Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson
President Lennart Meri and President Martti Ahtisaari of the Republic of Finland. Photo by T. Volmer National Archives
CORRECT ANSWER
President Lennart Meri presented the first Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana to Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=525842&q=ahtisaari&page=2&per-page=25
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
8/10
President Lennart Meri inaugurates the XXIII General Song Festival, 3 July 1999. Photo by M. MändNational Archives
Lennart Meri: "The song festival has never been in fashion, because the song festival is not a fashionable matter. The song festival is ....".
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=231123&d=lennart+meri&df=01.06.1999&dt=31.12.1999
a matter of the heart
a matter of us
an eternal matter
President Lennart Meri at the 22nd Tallinn Song Festival, 4 July 2004. Photo by M. Mänd National Archives
CORRECT ANSWER
"The song festival has never been fashionable, because the song festival is not a fashionable matter. A song festival is a matter of the heart." Speech by the President of the Republic at the XXIII General Song Festival on 3 July 1999.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=821848&df=01.07.2004&dt=10.07.2004&page=2&per-page=25
Read more
Listen more
CONTINUE
9/10
President Lennart Meri has also been involved in architecture and interior design. What kind of space did he design for the Office of the President of the Republic?
View of the Presidential Palace in Kadriorg. Photo by H. Leppikson National Archives
https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=470590&_xr=65f95f2fd65f9
A reception room for guests
A rest room for secretaries
A room for the children of employees
CORRECT ANSWER
The building of the Office of the President underwent some rearrangements in which the President was personally involved, such as the creation of a rest room for secretaries.
See more
Read more
CONTINUE
Plan drawn by President Lennart MeriOffice of the President Archives
Loe lisaks
10/10
In which beautiful natural setting was the President's summer residence where he met his distinguished guests?
By Lake Kaali
Rohuneeme
Paslepa
President Lennart Meri with guests. Photo by E. Alatalu
President Lennart Meri in summer residence in Paslepa. Photo by A. Truuväärt National Archive
CORRECT ANSWER
The President had a residence in Paslepa, where he hosted Estonian people as well as heads of state and NATO generals.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=235186&q=paslepa
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
President Lennart Meri. Photo: photo archive of the Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia
The whole point of our history is an independent Estonia. Lennart Meri29 March 1929 - 14 March 2006
VAATA NÄITUST
Learn more
See book recommendations
See online exhibition
Play again
a selection of literature from and about MEri.
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TRY AGAIN
Lennart Meri worked 24 hours a day. If someone wanted to go on holiday, he was absolutely shocked: how could anyone think of going on holiday at such a crucial hour! Or fall ill! People tried to avoid this and if they did fall ill, they hid it from Meri, whose favourite slogan for such occasions was: “There were no rest days in the War of Independence”. Välisministeeriumi poliitikaosakonna juht Jüri Luik. Meie tugevus on meie õigus. – Teine tulemine. II. Välisministeeriumi taasloomise lugu. Tallinn, 2008, lk. 166.
Georg Meri worked as a freelance translator since 1953. He was a member of the Writers' Union of the Estonian SSR since 1970. During the Soviet era, Georg Meri became known as a translator of Shakespeare's works and as a scholar of Shakespeare.
LOE: Georg Meriga vestlemas. Kodumaa, 8. juuni 1966.
"Silverwhite: The Journey to the Fallen Sun" was first published in 1976. This was followed by a sequel in 1984. ”Silverwhite. A Travelogue of the Big Bang, the Wind and the Magic Wind" is a combined version of the first editions of the first and second book, compiled and edited by Mart Meri and Urmas Sutrop on the basis of notes by Lennart Meri.
Georg-Peeter Meri was born on October 8, 1900 in the St. Petersburg Governorate, Russia. From 1927 to 1931 he worked as head of the Information Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, and from 1931 to 1933 he studied at the École Politiques of the Sorbonne in Paris on a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Upon graduation, he was appointed Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Berlin, where he worked until 1938, where he resumed his post at the Embassy in Paris. From 1938 to 1940, Georg Meri worked as Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
LOE: G. Meri lõpetas Pariisi diplomaatilise kooli. Vaba Maa, 27. juuli 1933.
Arhitektuuriga oli Lennart Meril olnud kokkupuuteid varemgi. 1984. aastal osalesid Vilen Künnapu, Ain Padrik ja Lennart Meri projektiga „Silverwhite“ Rovaniemi arktikamuuseumi konkursil, kus saadi eripreemia.
Lennart started work late and had phenomenal stamina. He gave all the young men and women an eyeful with his tirelessness. His most brilliant ideas were always born at two in the morning. Usually, sometime after midnight, we decided that Estonia was not going to become independent that night and that it was time to go home. But even after regaining our independence, we didn't go home on time, and Meri didn't stop smoking as he had promised. Välisministri sekretär Marina Asari. Privileeg olla alustajate seas. – Teine tulemine. II. Välisministeeriumi taasloomise lugu. Tallinn, 2008, lk. 78.
Lennart Meri had been involved in architecture before. In 1984, Vilen Künnapu, Ain Padrik and Lennart Meri took part in the competition of the Rovaniemi Arctic Museum with the project “Silverwhite”, where they received a special prize.
Arktika keskuse Rowaniemis. V. Künnapu, A. Padrik. L. Meri. Võistlusprojekt. 1984.
Lennart Meri's anthropological films:Veelinnurahvas (1970), Linnutee tuuled (1977), Kaleva hääled (1986), Toorumi pojad (1989), Liivlaste lood (author of the idea, 1991), Šamaan (1997). Other films: Supernoova (editor, 1965), Pikk tänav (screenwriter, 1966), Kirjad Sõgedate külast (editor, 1966), Olen valmis, ma lähen… (author of the text, 1967), Keskpäevane praam (editor, 1967), Libahunt (editor, 1968), Viimne reliikvia (editor, 1969), Kolme katku vahel (editor, 1970), Eduard Toll. Kiindumused (screenwriter, 1977).
Vt. Eesti Filmi Andmebaas
I recall the state visit to India. A hot summer's day. We went to see the island of monkeys. The path started to rise uphill and the hosts had brought along a huge, imperial palanquin, carried by four Hindu men. While this was typical in India, for us it seemed a slightly ridiculous colonial moment: Meri in a white suit towering over everyone's head in a palanquin. Half-way up however, Meri came down off the palanquin and gave some quick commands. One of the Hindu bearers thereby sat in the chair while a beaming Meri took over his job. Urmas Reinsalu. Presidendi reisidest aastail 1997‒2001. Naljaga pooleks. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja = Lennart Meri : the pathfinder. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 206.
Lennart's school days began in Germany and France and he was reading in both languages at a very early age. [---] Upon our return to Estonia, Lennart entered grade 9 at High School number 10. He was suddenly much livelier and interacted well with his classmates; in particular Eino Tamberg and Endel Lippmaa. In Russia, studies in natural history, physics and mathematics were at particularly high level - and Lennart excelled in these following his return to Estonia. Hindrek-Peeter Meri. Lapsepõlv Lennartiga. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 18; 20.
Madis Morel, the president's chief of protocol: Once, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern European Affairs, Strobe Talbott, arrived in Paslepas by helicopter and complained to Lennart that he was very tired and wanted to lie down. Lennart made the totally off-the-record suggestion that he should take off his jacket and go for a one-kilometre run, and said that he'd send a couple of guys along. Talbott ran a kilometre and was quite fresh afterwards. Of course, this was not according to etiquette, because according to etiquette, Talbott should have been greeted by the Chief of Protocol and sent to the President, and the conversation should have dragged on according to the talking points.
Paavo Kangur. Paslepa suveresidentsi lugu. Tõrvandi, 2014, lk. 59.
Read more
The Kadriorg Protocol has evolved during President Meri's two terms of office largely according to his wishes and suggestions. We have followed the practices of the international protocol, adjusting and modifying them to our needs. President Meri is fond of saying that protocol is a devil of a thing and a nuisance. Perhaps that is true, especially for Lennart Meri, who, thanks to his background and education, knows the protocol well. At the same time, it is the President himself who has insisted that we maintain a high level of accuracy in the minutes. So we have done well: we have been through a tough school and we have studied hard.
Sissejuhatus. – Kadrioru protokollist / koostanud Piret Saluri. Tallinn, 2001, lk. 2.
On 16 of May 1995, on the initiative of President Lennart Meri, the Order of the Terra Mariana was established as the highest award for foreigners. On the same day, the President, who was on a state visit to Finland, presented the first Order of the Terra Mariana Cross to the Finnish presidential couple and other high-ranking Finnish statesmen. Asutati Maarjamaa Risti orden. Eesti Sõnumid, 17. mai 1995
The frame of the film was agriculture, and the discrete axis was the mythical Milky Way, a cultural bridge from the past to the future, a message and an image, to which the Nganasan singer Demnime added a complement: a pillar rising from the belfry, be it a smoke pillar or a breath pillar, reaches with its apex to the sky, the Milky Way, which is “in our language Ngohüto, born from the soul of man”.
Lennart Meri. Registriga järelsõna „Linnutee tuultele“. Keel ja Kirjandus, 1979, nr. 3.
One can vividly imagine President Lennart Meri sitting on the balcony of Paslepa's summer residence with a cup of coffee in front of him and an old friend - like the American Paul Globe, the Hungarian Andreas Oplatka, the Baltic German Carl-Gustav Ströhm or Jüri Luik, who used to visit him more often - as his conversation partner. For a moment, Meri closes his eyes, or rather narrows them, and sees Viking ships passing on the horizon, heading for the mouth of the silver-white waterway beyond the Isle of Osmus with their cargo. Paavo Kangur. Paslepa suveresidentsi lugu. Tõrvandi, 2014, lk. 9.
One day a warm and heartfelt letter arrived from the Foreign Affairs Minister of a Latin-American country, requesting a meeting. The letter was correct in all aspects, addressed to Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs... Mrs. Mary Lennart. Lennart was a bit ill at ease, a state of being he otherwise never showed and which was noticed only by those who knew him very well. Of course a reply had to be sent. But he chose not to humour his colleagues by replying under the name of Mary Lennart. The letter was sent bearing Lennart Meri's signature. Mart Nutt. Mary Lennart. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja = Lennart Meri : the pathfinder. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 171.
Lennart Meri – riigimees ja rännumees. Lennart Meri tunneme eelkõige presidendina. Ta oli ametis kaks ametiaega, 1992-1996 ja 1996-2001. Keerulisel iseseisvuse taastamise ja sellele järgnenud ajal, 1990-1992, juhtis ta välisministeeriumi. Lennart Meri tõeliseks kireks oli rändamine. Tema reisid ja ekspeditsioonid kajastatuvad ka tema raamatutes ja filmides. Ja „Hõbevalge“ – eestlaste ja soome-ugri rahvaste lugu, mis on sillaks eri rahvaste ning looduse ja inimese vahel, aga ka luule ja täppisteaduste vahel.
The President appreciated his secretaries. He would often visit them in their rooms and elsewhere to check that nothing was missing or overlooked. [---] The secretaries were given a lounge behind their room. Lennart Meri personally sketched out a plan of where the cupboard, sofa, basin, shower, toilet, etc. would be placed. And so it was done, and this is how the room still looks today. Asjaajamise konsultant ja nõunik Vaike Siirus. Kas kiri, resolutsioon, notifikatsioon, korraldus, otsus või käskkiri? – VPK : Vabariigi Presidendi Kantselei : inimesed. Ajalugu. Institutsioon. Maja. Muutused. Tulemiste ja lahkumiste lood. Tallinn, 2012, lk. 108.
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Transcript
OUR VERY OWN LENNART MERI
BEGIN
Lennart Meri, 1976. Photo by E. Köster National Archives of Estonia
1/10
How many countries has Lennart Meri attended school in?
Berlin, 1934. Photo: private collection
CORRECT ANSWER
Lennart Meri went to school in Estonia, France, Germany and Russia
Read more
Listen more
CONTINUE
Listen more
Tiergarten, Berlin, 1935. Photo: private collection
2/10
Georg Meri National Archives
Who was Lennart Meri's father Georg Meri?
A doctor
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=576873&q=georg+meri
A teacher
A diplomat and translator
CORRECT ANSWER
Georg Meri was a diplomat of the Republic of Estonia. In Soviet Estonia, he had acted as a translator.
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Lennart in Berlin with his mother and father, 1933. Photo: private collection
3/10
The writer and translator Lennart-Georg Meri playing the shaman's drum, ERM Fk 2644:5984, Eesti Rahva Muuseum, Estonia.
For which film did Lennart Meri win a silver medal for at the 1979 New York Film Festival?
https://opendata.muis.ee/object/1512451
"The Waterfowl People"
"Shaman"
"The Winds of Milky Way"
CORRECT ANSWER
Poster for the film "Winds of the Milky Way". Estonian Film Database
"The Winds of Milky Way" (est. "Linnutee tuuled") is a documentary about the ethnography and origins of the Finno-Ugric peoples.
https://www.efis.ee/film/3775
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Listen more
4/10
“Silverwhite” Author: Lennart Meri, Illustratotions by Heinz Valk
What is the subtitle of Lennart Meri's book “Silverwhite” in english?
Finds of Silver in Estonian Fields
https://www.digar.ee/arhiiv/nlib-digar:894392
The Journey to the Fallen Sun
Estonian prehistory
CORRECT ANSWER
"Silverwhite: The Journey to the Fallen Sun" was originally published in 1976 and is the story of the Estonians, as well as other Finno-Ugric peoples. The english translation, made by Adam Cullen, was published in 2025.
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
Listen more
In search of silver. Lennart Meri and archaeologist Vello Lõugas excavating in the Kaali main crater, May 1976. Photo by R. Kärner National Heritage Board archives
5/10
Foreign Minister Lennart Meri. Photo by T. Veermäe National Archives
One of the favourite sayings of Foreign Minister Lennart Meri was: “In the War of Independence, there were no...”. Who or what was not there?
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=409866&q=EFA.204.0.254712
rest days
cowards
idle chatter
CORRECT ANSWER
Foreign Minister Lennart Meri at the editorial office of Eesti Päevaleht in Stockholm in 1990 with editor-in-chief Juhan Koklaga. Estonian National Museum
“There were no rest days in the War of Independence,” said Lennart Meri, who was Foreign Minister from 1990 to 1992.
https://opendata.muis.ee/object/4037638
Read more
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
6/10
What did President Lennart Meri promise to do with the protocol should it be in his way?
Bow before it
Pick it up
Step over it
State visit to the Kingdom of Denmark, 12-14 April 1994. Office of the President photo archive
CORRECT ANSWER
Lennart Meri has said: "I have never been bothered by protocol. If it's in the way, I'll step over it. Le protocole, c'est moi."
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
See more
The President pays a state visit to India. Photo by E. Alatalu
7/10
“20 years of the Cross of Terra Mariana”. Office of the President of the Republic. Tallinn, 2015.
Who was the first recipient of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana from President Lennart Meri?
https://p.president.ee/sites/default/files/2023-10/MaarjamaaRist_web_0.pdf
US President Bill Clinton
Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari
Swedish Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson
President Lennart Meri and President Martti Ahtisaari of the Republic of Finland. Photo by T. Volmer National Archives
CORRECT ANSWER
President Lennart Meri presented the first Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana to Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=525842&q=ahtisaari&page=2&per-page=25
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
8/10
President Lennart Meri inaugurates the XXIII General Song Festival, 3 July 1999. Photo by M. MändNational Archives
Lennart Meri: "The song festival has never been in fashion, because the song festival is not a fashionable matter. The song festival is ....".
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=231123&d=lennart+meri&df=01.06.1999&dt=31.12.1999
a matter of the heart
a matter of us
an eternal matter
President Lennart Meri at the 22nd Tallinn Song Festival, 4 July 2004. Photo by M. Mänd National Archives
CORRECT ANSWER
"The song festival has never been fashionable, because the song festival is not a fashionable matter. A song festival is a matter of the heart." Speech by the President of the Republic at the XXIII General Song Festival on 3 July 1999.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=821848&df=01.07.2004&dt=10.07.2004&page=2&per-page=25
Read more
Listen more
CONTINUE
9/10
President Lennart Meri has also been involved in architecture and interior design. What kind of space did he design for the Office of the President of the Republic?
View of the Presidential Palace in Kadriorg. Photo by H. Leppikson National Archives
https://www.ra.ee/fotis/index.php/et/photo/view?id=470590&_xr=65f95f2fd65f9
A reception room for guests
A rest room for secretaries
A room for the children of employees
CORRECT ANSWER
The building of the Office of the President underwent some rearrangements in which the President was personally involved, such as the creation of a rest room for secretaries.
See more
Read more
CONTINUE
Plan drawn by President Lennart MeriOffice of the President Archives
Loe lisaks
10/10
In which beautiful natural setting was the President's summer residence where he met his distinguished guests?
By Lake Kaali
Rohuneeme
Paslepa
President Lennart Meri with guests. Photo by E. Alatalu
President Lennart Meri in summer residence in Paslepa. Photo by A. Truuväärt National Archive
CORRECT ANSWER
The President had a residence in Paslepa, where he hosted Estonian people as well as heads of state and NATO generals.
https://www.meediateek.ee/photo/view?id=235186&q=paslepa
Read more
Read more
CONTINUE
President Lennart Meri. Photo: photo archive of the Office of the President of the Republic of Estonia
The whole point of our history is an independent Estonia. Lennart Meri29 March 1929 - 14 March 2006
VAATA NÄITUST
Learn more
See book recommendations
See online exhibition
Play again
a selection of literature from and about MEri.
PLAy again
TRY AGAIN
Lennart Meri worked 24 hours a day. If someone wanted to go on holiday, he was absolutely shocked: how could anyone think of going on holiday at such a crucial hour! Or fall ill! People tried to avoid this and if they did fall ill, they hid it from Meri, whose favourite slogan for such occasions was: “There were no rest days in the War of Independence”. Välisministeeriumi poliitikaosakonna juht Jüri Luik. Meie tugevus on meie õigus. – Teine tulemine. II. Välisministeeriumi taasloomise lugu. Tallinn, 2008, lk. 166.
Georg Meri worked as a freelance translator since 1953. He was a member of the Writers' Union of the Estonian SSR since 1970. During the Soviet era, Georg Meri became known as a translator of Shakespeare's works and as a scholar of Shakespeare.
LOE: Georg Meriga vestlemas. Kodumaa, 8. juuni 1966.
"Silverwhite: The Journey to the Fallen Sun" was first published in 1976. This was followed by a sequel in 1984. ”Silverwhite. A Travelogue of the Big Bang, the Wind and the Magic Wind" is a combined version of the first editions of the first and second book, compiled and edited by Mart Meri and Urmas Sutrop on the basis of notes by Lennart Meri.
Georg-Peeter Meri was born on October 8, 1900 in the St. Petersburg Governorate, Russia. From 1927 to 1931 he worked as head of the Information Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Estonia, and from 1931 to 1933 he studied at the École Politiques of the Sorbonne in Paris on a scholarship from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Upon graduation, he was appointed Counsellor at the Embassy of the Republic of Estonia in Berlin, where he worked until 1938, where he resumed his post at the Embassy in Paris. From 1938 to 1940, Georg Meri worked as Director of the Foreign Trade Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
LOE: G. Meri lõpetas Pariisi diplomaatilise kooli. Vaba Maa, 27. juuli 1933.
Arhitektuuriga oli Lennart Meril olnud kokkupuuteid varemgi. 1984. aastal osalesid Vilen Künnapu, Ain Padrik ja Lennart Meri projektiga „Silverwhite“ Rovaniemi arktikamuuseumi konkursil, kus saadi eripreemia.
Lennart started work late and had phenomenal stamina. He gave all the young men and women an eyeful with his tirelessness. His most brilliant ideas were always born at two in the morning. Usually, sometime after midnight, we decided that Estonia was not going to become independent that night and that it was time to go home. But even after regaining our independence, we didn't go home on time, and Meri didn't stop smoking as he had promised. Välisministri sekretär Marina Asari. Privileeg olla alustajate seas. – Teine tulemine. II. Välisministeeriumi taasloomise lugu. Tallinn, 2008, lk. 78.
Lennart Meri had been involved in architecture before. In 1984, Vilen Künnapu, Ain Padrik and Lennart Meri took part in the competition of the Rovaniemi Arctic Museum with the project “Silverwhite”, where they received a special prize.
Arktika keskuse Rowaniemis. V. Künnapu, A. Padrik. L. Meri. Võistlusprojekt. 1984.
Lennart Meri's anthropological films:Veelinnurahvas (1970), Linnutee tuuled (1977), Kaleva hääled (1986), Toorumi pojad (1989), Liivlaste lood (author of the idea, 1991), Šamaan (1997). Other films: Supernoova (editor, 1965), Pikk tänav (screenwriter, 1966), Kirjad Sõgedate külast (editor, 1966), Olen valmis, ma lähen… (author of the text, 1967), Keskpäevane praam (editor, 1967), Libahunt (editor, 1968), Viimne reliikvia (editor, 1969), Kolme katku vahel (editor, 1970), Eduard Toll. Kiindumused (screenwriter, 1977).
Vt. Eesti Filmi Andmebaas
I recall the state visit to India. A hot summer's day. We went to see the island of monkeys. The path started to rise uphill and the hosts had brought along a huge, imperial palanquin, carried by four Hindu men. While this was typical in India, for us it seemed a slightly ridiculous colonial moment: Meri in a white suit towering over everyone's head in a palanquin. Half-way up however, Meri came down off the palanquin and gave some quick commands. One of the Hindu bearers thereby sat in the chair while a beaming Meri took over his job. Urmas Reinsalu. Presidendi reisidest aastail 1997‒2001. Naljaga pooleks. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja = Lennart Meri : the pathfinder. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 206.
Lennart's school days began in Germany and France and he was reading in both languages at a very early age. [---] Upon our return to Estonia, Lennart entered grade 9 at High School number 10. He was suddenly much livelier and interacted well with his classmates; in particular Eino Tamberg and Endel Lippmaa. In Russia, studies in natural history, physics and mathematics were at particularly high level - and Lennart excelled in these following his return to Estonia. Hindrek-Peeter Meri. Lapsepõlv Lennartiga. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 18; 20.
Madis Morel, the president's chief of protocol: Once, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Eastern European Affairs, Strobe Talbott, arrived in Paslepas by helicopter and complained to Lennart that he was very tired and wanted to lie down. Lennart made the totally off-the-record suggestion that he should take off his jacket and go for a one-kilometre run, and said that he'd send a couple of guys along. Talbott ran a kilometre and was quite fresh afterwards. Of course, this was not according to etiquette, because according to etiquette, Talbott should have been greeted by the Chief of Protocol and sent to the President, and the conversation should have dragged on according to the talking points. Paavo Kangur. Paslepa suveresidentsi lugu. Tõrvandi, 2014, lk. 59.
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The Kadriorg Protocol has evolved during President Meri's two terms of office largely according to his wishes and suggestions. We have followed the practices of the international protocol, adjusting and modifying them to our needs. President Meri is fond of saying that protocol is a devil of a thing and a nuisance. Perhaps that is true, especially for Lennart Meri, who, thanks to his background and education, knows the protocol well. At the same time, it is the President himself who has insisted that we maintain a high level of accuracy in the minutes. So we have done well: we have been through a tough school and we have studied hard. Sissejuhatus. – Kadrioru protokollist / koostanud Piret Saluri. Tallinn, 2001, lk. 2.
On 16 of May 1995, on the initiative of President Lennart Meri, the Order of the Terra Mariana was established as the highest award for foreigners. On the same day, the President, who was on a state visit to Finland, presented the first Order of the Terra Mariana Cross to the Finnish presidential couple and other high-ranking Finnish statesmen. Asutati Maarjamaa Risti orden. Eesti Sõnumid, 17. mai 1995
The frame of the film was agriculture, and the discrete axis was the mythical Milky Way, a cultural bridge from the past to the future, a message and an image, to which the Nganasan singer Demnime added a complement: a pillar rising from the belfry, be it a smoke pillar or a breath pillar, reaches with its apex to the sky, the Milky Way, which is “in our language Ngohüto, born from the soul of man”.
Lennart Meri. Registriga järelsõna „Linnutee tuultele“. Keel ja Kirjandus, 1979, nr. 3.
One can vividly imagine President Lennart Meri sitting on the balcony of Paslepa's summer residence with a cup of coffee in front of him and an old friend - like the American Paul Globe, the Hungarian Andreas Oplatka, the Baltic German Carl-Gustav Ströhm or Jüri Luik, who used to visit him more often - as his conversation partner. For a moment, Meri closes his eyes, or rather narrows them, and sees Viking ships passing on the horizon, heading for the mouth of the silver-white waterway beyond the Isle of Osmus with their cargo. Paavo Kangur. Paslepa suveresidentsi lugu. Tõrvandi, 2014, lk. 9.
One day a warm and heartfelt letter arrived from the Foreign Affairs Minister of a Latin-American country, requesting a meeting. The letter was correct in all aspects, addressed to Estonia's Minister of Foreign Affairs... Mrs. Mary Lennart. Lennart was a bit ill at ease, a state of being he otherwise never showed and which was noticed only by those who knew him very well. Of course a reply had to be sent. But he chose not to humour his colleagues by replying under the name of Mary Lennart. The letter was sent bearing Lennart Meri's signature. Mart Nutt. Mary Lennart. – Lennart Meri : rajaleidja = Lennart Meri : the pathfinder. Tallinn, 2009, lk. 171.
Lennart Meri – riigimees ja rännumees. Lennart Meri tunneme eelkõige presidendina. Ta oli ametis kaks ametiaega, 1992-1996 ja 1996-2001. Keerulisel iseseisvuse taastamise ja sellele järgnenud ajal, 1990-1992, juhtis ta välisministeeriumi. Lennart Meri tõeliseks kireks oli rändamine. Tema reisid ja ekspeditsioonid kajastatuvad ka tema raamatutes ja filmides. Ja „Hõbevalge“ – eestlaste ja soome-ugri rahvaste lugu, mis on sillaks eri rahvaste ning looduse ja inimese vahel, aga ka luule ja täppisteaduste vahel.
The President appreciated his secretaries. He would often visit them in their rooms and elsewhere to check that nothing was missing or overlooked. [---] The secretaries were given a lounge behind their room. Lennart Meri personally sketched out a plan of where the cupboard, sofa, basin, shower, toilet, etc. would be placed. And so it was done, and this is how the room still looks today. Asjaajamise konsultant ja nõunik Vaike Siirus. Kas kiri, resolutsioon, notifikatsioon, korraldus, otsus või käskkiri? – VPK : Vabariigi Presidendi Kantselei : inimesed. Ajalugu. Institutsioon. Maja. Muutused. Tulemiste ja lahkumiste lood. Tallinn, 2012, lk. 108.