Estonia is a small, independent country lying along the Soviet border. During World War II it was occupied by both the Germans and the Russians and suffered greatly. Today, it enjoys a high economic level and religious freedom. Estonia is located on the Gulf of Finland, 50 miles south of Helsinki and west of Saint Petersburg.
Estonia also has a Scottish club in the capital city of Tallinn, population of about 450,000. The Scottish Club was established in the 1990's as a whiskey sampling society. They have begun a program of honoring “Scots who have made a difference.”
The first bust of a Scot who had made a difference was that of Robert Burns. This year they honored Sir Sean Connery. The bust was created by Estonian sculptor Tiiu Kirsipuu and cost some $14,000 dollars. It was financed by private donations and “depicts a bearded Connery at a mature age.” The bust was unveiled by Peter Carter the British Ambassador.
Connery lives in the Bahamas and says “he will not live in Scotland again until it gains independence from the United Kingdom.” He is now 80 years old.
Peter Carter said: “Sir Sean Connery is, without a doubt an icon. He is variously known as James Bond or the sexiest man of the century. He’s a great British actor, a great Scot actor and a great symbol for Scotland.”
Scots are everywhere even in Tallinn, Estoria. I am sure they had a Burns Dinner, so I wonder what his poetry sounds like after translation in Finnish which is the major language in Estonia.
Interesting to read about these statues in Tallinn. But the official/major language in Estonia is Estonian, not Finnish. Estonian and Finnish are from the same language family (Finno-Ugric) and sound similar, but are not mutually understandable languages.
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