13 April

During the past week, Ambassador of the Republic of Estonia to France Sven Jürgenson presented two Estonian decorations at the Estonian Embassy in Paris. The decorations were bestowed upon the recipients by President of the Republic Toomas Hendrik Ilves in February of this year.

On Friday, 8 April, Ambassador Jürgenson presented Vladimir-Georg Karassev-Orgusaar with the Order of the White Star IV Class. Vladimir Georg Karassev-Orgussaar was born in Tallinn in 1931. After studying literature and history at Tomsk University in Russia, he studied cinematography at the State Institute of Cinematography in Moscow. After returning to Estonia, Karassev-Orgussaar made primarily non-fiction films for Tallinnfilm and Eesti Telefilm in the 1960s. From 1968 he belonged to the editorial board of Eesti Telefilm. He also worked part-time in the film criticism department of the weekly paper “Sirp ja Vasar”. After his fictional 1971 film “Lindpriid” was banned, which was followed by a ban on cinema work for him, Karassev-Orgusaar pursued political refuge in France during a trip to the Cannes Film festival in 1976. He has lived in Paris ever since.

In 1981 Karassev-Orgussaar began working with the editors of the Estonian- and Russian-language programmes on Radio Free Europe. One year later, with the help of Free Europe, he initiated the idea of observing Fallen Freedom Fighters’ Day on 27 March. In 1990 Vladimir Georg Karassev-Orgussaar was chosen as a member of the Estonian Congress, and for the next two years he was the representative of the Estonian Committee in France. As the founder and co-president of the Association France–Estonie — Pont de la Démocratie, which was created in 1991, Vladimir Georg Karassev-Orgussaar has actively helped to introduce Estonia in France over the years.

On Wednesday, 13 April, Ambassador Sven Jürgenson presented philosopher André Glucksmann with the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana III Class. André Glucksmann, who has thoroughly addressed totalitarian regimes in his works, was recognised with a decoration of the Estonian Republic by President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in February of this year.

Ambassador Sven Jürgenson thanked André Glucksmann for his active and long-term dedication to the pursuit of freedom. The ambassador said that André Glucksmann’s activities have been significant for Estonia over the years. “By being a constant supporter of those suffering under communist regimes, be it Vietnam or the Soviet Union, and for always demanding freedom, André Glucksmann has earned this high recognition from the Republic of Estonia,” said Ambassador Sven Jürgenson in his speech after presenting the decoration.

The French philosopher, political scientist, essayist and representative of the “New Philosophers” earned considerable public attention in 2008 when he expressed support for Georgia during the August war with Russia.