The Letter of 40 intellectuals, also The letter of 40 ( et, Neljakümne kiri), originally A public letter from

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...

( et, Avalik kiri Eesti NSV-st) was a public letter dated October 28, 1980 and posted a week later, in which 40 intellectuals attempted to defend the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160, ...

and expressed their protest against the recklessness of the Republic-level government in dealing with youth protests that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the band

Propeller A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...

. The real reasons were much more deep-seated, and had to do primarily with the

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cult ...

policies of the Kremlin in occupied Estonia. The letter was addressed to the newspapers ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the ...

'', ''

Rahva Hääl ''Rahva Hääl'' (lit. ''The People's Voice'') was the official daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Estonia during Soviet occupation of Estonia. It was founded shortly after the first Soviet takeover in 1940 based on offices and resources ...

'' and '' Sovetskaya Estoniya''. None of these nor any other Soviet publication printed the letter. Copies of the letter were however widely distributed through

self-publishing Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

Publication

The letter was first published abroad on December 10, 1980 in ''

Eesti Päevaleht ''Eesti Päevaleht'' ''("Estonia Daily")'' is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly ''Eesti Ekspress''. It has a daily circulation of around 36,000. History and profile ''Eesti Päevaleht'' was founded on 5 Jun ...

'' (Stockholm), a weekly newspaper run by Estonians in exile. At the same time that the letter circulated in Estonian exile communities, radio stations in other countries broadcast the contents of the letter. Radio Free Europe read the letter in full on 11 December 1980 in the

, and later also transmitted it in translated form in other languages.

Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International broadcasting, international radio broadcaster of the United States, United States of America. It is the largest and oldest U.S.-funded international br ...

did a thorough overview on December 23, 1980. This distribution round, in turn, led to a number of tertiary copies, meaning hand-written transcripts of the reading from the broadcasts began to circulate underground in Estonia. The letter was translated into

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

by Jüri Estam. Dr. Jaan Pennar contributed editing. In

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, an ...

, the letter was first officially published in

Vikerkaar ''Vikerkaar'' ('rainbow' in Estonian) is an Estonian magazine published in Tallinn, Estonia by Kultuurileht SA. The magazine focuses on Estonian literature Estonian literature ( et, eesti kirjandus) is literature written in the Estonian lan ...

(no. 7, 1988), together with commentary by Rein Ruutsoo and Lembit Valt.

Soviet reaction

In November 1980, the Soviet government took a number of repressive measures against the signatories: they were "interviewed" at work and by various Party structures, and invited to renounce their signatures. A number of signatories did so. The Soviet KGB conducted a search at the home of Jaan Kaplinski, whom it suspected to have been the originator of the letter. Academician

Gustav Naan Gustav Naan (russian: Густав Иоганнович Наан, ''Gustav Iogannovich Naan''; 17 May 1919 near Vladivostok – 12 January 1994 in Tallinn) was an Estonian physicist and philosopher. According to the Estonian Encyclopedia's definiti ...

in turn sent a letter entitled "Some Thoughts About the Ideological Situation" to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Estonia, demanding reprisals against what he described as the “gang of forty”.Valdur Ohmann ''Gustav Naani kaebekiri EKP Keskkomiteele'' - Tuna 2005, nr 3, lk 96–104 Four signatories were fired from their jobs. Other repressions were not undertaken against the signatories. The KGB attempted but failed to track down people who had sent copies of the letter out of the country.

Signatories

* Priit Aimla * Kaur Alttoa *

Madis Aruja Madis Aruja (16 January 1936, Kuigatsi, Otepää Parish – 12 March 1995, Tallinn) was an Estonian conservationist, geographer and ski-orienteer. He worked in the fields of nature conservation and fish protection in the Estonian SSR before being ...

* Lehte Hainsalu * Mati Hint * Fred Jüssi * Aira Kaal * Maie Kalda *

Tõnu Kaljuste Tõnu Kaljuste (born August 28, 1953) is an Estonian conductor. Born in Tallinn, Kaljuste is the son of Heino Kaljuste (1925–1989), an Estonian choral conductor, and Lia Kaljuste, a radio journalist. Tõnu sang in his father's choirs as a chil ...

* Toomas Kall * Jaan Kaplinski *

Peet Kask Peet Kask (born 21 February 1948) is an Estonian physicist, political scientist and former politician, most notable for voting for the Estonian restoration of Independence. Kask graduated from the University of Tartu in 1971 with a degree in phy ...

* Heino Kiik * Jaan Klõšeiko * Kersti Kreismann * Alar Laats * Aare Laht *

Andres Langemets Andres Langemets (born 9 March 1948 in Rapla) is an Estonian publicist, poet. 1980, he gave his signature to Letter of 40 intellectuals. 1988–1997, he was the chief editor of the magazine ''Looming ''Looming'' is a term found in the study ...

Marju Lauristin Marju Lauristin (born 7 April 1940) is an Estonian politician, and former Member of the European Parliament and Minister of Social Affairs. She is a member of the Social Democratic Party, part of the Party of European Socialists. Lauristin is c ...

* Peeter Lorents * Vello Lõugas * Endel Nirk *

Lembit Peterson Lembit Peterson (born on 18 August 1953 in Tallinn) is an Estonian actor, theatre director and theatre pedagogue. In 1971 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory's Stage Art Department. From 1976 to 1979 and 1985 to 1988 he worked at Estonia ...

* Arno Pukk * Rein Põllumaa * Tõnis Rätsep *

Paul-Eerik Rummo Paul-Eerik Rummo (born January 19, 1942) is an Estonian poet, playwright, translator and politician who was the former Estonian Minister of Culture and Education, as well as the former Estonian Minister of Population Affairs. Rummo was born in T ...

* Rein Ruutsoo * Ita Saks * Aavo Sirk *

Mati Sirkel Mati Sirkel (born 12 October 1949) is an Estonian translator and writer. Career He was born in Paide. In 1972 he graduated from Tartu State University with a degrees in literary theory and German philology. From 1972 until 1975, he worked as a ...

* Jaan Tamm * Rein Tamsalu *

Andres Tarand Andres Tarand (born 11 January 1940) is an Estonian geographer, climatologist and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1994 to 1995. He was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Social Democratic Party, pa ...

* Lehte Tavel * Peeter Tulviste *

Mati Unt Mati Unt (1 January 1944 Linnamäe, Voore Parish (now Voore, Mustvee Parish), Jõgeva County, Estonia – 22 August 2005, Tallinn) was an Estonian writer, essayist and theatre director. Biography His first novel, written at the age of 18 aft ...

* Arvo Valton *

Juhan Viiding Juhan Viiding (1 June 1948 – 21 February 1995), also known under the pseudonym of Jüri Üdi was an Estonian poet and actor. Personal life Juhan Viiding was born on 1 June 1948 in Tallinn to Paul Viiding, a well-known poet in Estonia who ...

Aarne Üksküla Aarne Üksküla (21 September 1937 Tallinn – 29 October 2017) was an Estonian actor and theatre instructor. In 1961 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory's Performing Arts Department. Career: * Rakvere Theatre (1961-1968) * Endla Theatr ...

Footnotes

Literature

* Text of the Letter of 40 in Englis

* ''40 kirja lugu'' by Sirje Kiin, Rein Ruutsoo and

. Olion 1990, * Rein Ruutsoo: ''Tartu Ülikool ja 40 kiri: kodanikuühiskond Eestis ja vastupanu strateegiad'', no. 31 in ''Tartu Ülikooli ajaloo küsimusi'', pages 144–181 *

: ''Kiri ei põle ära: päevaraamat 1980–...'', Eesti Päevalehe Kirjastus 2005, {{Restoration of Baltic independence Open letters 1980 in the Soviet Union Works originally published in newspapers 1980 documents 1980 in Estonia