Vello Salo (until 1945 Endel Vaher; 5 November 1925 Võisiku Parish,

Viljandi County Viljandi County ( or ''Viljandimaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia. History Viljandimaa, under the German name of ''Krei ...

– 21 April 2019

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n Catholic cleric, essayist, translator. He was a notable promoter of Estonian literature in exile. He was a Catholic. During WW II, he joined with

Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 Infantry Regiment 200 (, ) or soomepoisid (''Finnish Boys'') was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of th ...

. In 1962, he established Estonian exile publishing house Maarjamaa. Since 1998, he was a member of

Estonian Writers' Union The Estonian Writers' Union (, abbr. EWU is a professional association of Estonian writers and literary critics.Marje Jõeste, Küllo Arjakas, ''The Baltic States'', Estonian Encyclopaedia Publishers, 1991, page 64 History The Estonian Writer ...

. Since 2001, he was a priest for

Pirita Monastery Pirita Convent () was a Bridgettine convent for both nuns and monks, located in the district of Pirita in Tallinn, Estonia. It functioned from 1407 to 1575. It was the largest convent in Livonia, and with a floor area of 1360 square meters, it ...

. In 2018, the documentary film was made about Salo's life. The film was titled as "Igapäevelu müstika" ('Vello Salo: The Mystery of Everyday Life'), directed by

Jaan Tootsen Jaan Tootsen (born 14 October 1975) is an Estonian Estonian film director, screenwriter and film producer. Tootsen's father is journalist, writer and politician Toivo Tootsen. His half-brother is writer Tõnis Tootsen. Since 2000 he has worked a ...

. He was honorary alumnus of the

Estonian Students' Society The Estonian Students' Society (; commonly used acronym: EÜS) is the largest and oldest all-male academical student society in Estonia, and is similar to the Baltic Germans, Baltic German student organizations known as German Student Corps, c ...

. On September 25, 2018, he met

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in Tallinn during his Apostolic Visit to Estonia.

References

1925 births 2019 deaths Estonian Christian clergy Estonian theologians Estonian translators Estonian volunteers in the Continuation War {{Estonia-bio-stub