Lennart Meri: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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However, the family was in Tallinn when Estonia was occupied by the armed forces of the [[Soviet Union]] in June 1940. The extended Meri family was split in the middle between those supporting the Soviet Union and the [[Allies of WWII]] and those opposing the Soviets.<ref>[http://www.balticguide.ee/index.php/a641 Entisen presidentin serkkua syytetään neuvostoajan kyydityksistä] {{fi icon}}</ref> Lennart's cousin [[Arnold Meri]] joined the [[Red Army]] and was soon made a [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. In 1941, the Meri family was [[Soviet deportations from Estonia|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 [[lumberjack|lumberman]] in [[Siberia]]. He also worked as a potato peeler and a rafter to support his family.

Whilst in exile, Lennart Meri grew interested in the other [[Uralic languages]] that he heard around him, the language family of which his native Estonian is also a part of. His interest in the ethnic and cultural kinship amongst the scattered Uralic family had been a life-long theme within his work.

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 5 March 1953, the day of [[Joseph Stalin]]'s death, 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 [[Radio producer|producer]] of radio plays in the Estonian broadcasting industry. Several of his [[films]] were released to great critical acclaim.