President of the Republic of Estonia (6 October 1992 to 8 October 2001).
Lennart Meri was a leader of the Estonian independence movement.
As a child he spent many years abroad with his family and is therefore
fluent in French, German, English and Finnish.
Has three children: sons Mart (born in 1959) and Kristjan (born 1966) and daughter Tuule (born 1985).
Honorary Member of the Finnish Literary Society.
Was ambassador to Finland for a short period of time before being
appointed President of the Republic of Estonia in 1992.
He is known as the author and translator of many books. From the 1960s
to the 1980s he worked as a screenwriter and producer for a film
company in Tallinn.
Some of his films which made plain the hardships of ethnic peoples
behind the Iron Curtain were banned in the Soviet Union but they earned
critical praise abroad where they were shown in smuggled copies.
He was the first president of Estonia in the post Soviet era and an
internationally recognized filmmaker, travel writer and
translator.
Had three children: sons Mart (b. 1959) and Kristjan (b. 1966) and
daughter Tuule (b. 1985).
Was a noted historian and ethnographer. Made several ethnographic
movies in the 70s.