Thanking for the medal, President Meri recalled his former teacher Rudolf Kenkmaa, who had managed to find minutes of the inspection of the Estonian schools from the archives. As the President said, these records from the 17th century showed that the desire for spiritual enlightenment and education had attracted young farm heirs, men at the age of 20-23, as well as young peasant girls, to come to school for knowledge besides their work at the farms.
As the President said, we can be proud of the legal continuity of our state, but besides that we have throughout the centuries been accompanied by the continuity of the Estonian culture. ''The smaller the Estonian people's share of their own country, the more they cherished their culture; the two are intertwined and one can not exist without the other,'' the President said.
The council of the Forselius Society had decided on March 12, 1999, to award to Lennart Meri this medal, which is usually awarded to the teachers of the Estonian language and public figures for promoting the Estonian language.
Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, February 22, 2000
