end of an era

Former President of the Republic of Estonia Mr Lennart Meri has passed away.

And those things happen, and life goes on. But this person was special to the whole nation. Not only was he able to give his own speeches in 5 different languages, which he spoke fluently, and actually write several of his own speeches thanks to his extraordinary literary skills. What we will always miss most about him, is his soft and very insightful skill to raise important topics for discussion among the broader public and provide great intellectual guidance in those discussions.

People like these do not come around often. I suspect that for a small nation like ours we might have to wait long until we see next one of those raise to the same prominence. Because not only does it take a great person, but it also takes the right place and time for people to recognise that uniqueness and actually respect that person to take on a prominent position. All these things come together but rarely. Even as big and intellectually great country as the US has but very rarely managed to dig out any of those.

So what now. I think the best tribute to Mr Meri is to respect his heritage and try our best to nurture a continued debate and intellectual reflection. How else can new generations of great thinkers be raised? It is our moral obligation to provide the best environment for new intellectuals to grow.