Fred Jüssi (born January 29, 1935) is an

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 ...

n biologist, nature writer and photographer. Jüssi was born in

Aruba Aruba ( , , ), officially the Country of Aruba ( nl, Land Aruba; pap, Pais Aruba) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands physically located in the mid-south of the Caribbean Sea, about north of the Venezuela peninsula of P ...

Netherlands Antilles nl, In vrijheid verenigd"Unified by freedom" , national_anthem = , common_languages = Dutch English Papiamento , demonym = Netherlands Antillean , capital = Willemstad , year_start = 1954 , year_end = 2010 , date_start = 15 December , ...

, where his father worked for a

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

n oil company. His family returned to Estonia and settled in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

when Jüssi was 3 years old. After finishing high school in Tallinn he studied biology and zoology at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, graduating in 1958. He has worked as a school teacher (from 1958 to 1960 in

Emmaste Emmaste (german: Emmast) is a village in Hiiumaa Parish, Hiiu County Hiiu County ( et, Hiiu maakond or ''Hiiumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia, being the smallest county both in terms of area and population. It consists of Hiiumaa ( ...

Hiiumaa Hiiumaa (, ) is the second largest island in Estonia and is part of the West Estonian archipelago, in the Baltic Sea. It has an area of 989 km2 and is 22 km from the Estonian mainland. Its largest town is Kärdla. It is located within ...

), as inspector for nature protection (1962–1975), radio broadcaster for

Eesti Raadio Eesti Raadio (Estonian Radio, ER) was the public service radio broadcaster of Estonia that, at the time of closure, operated five national radio stations. It was closed in 2007 as a result of a merger with Eesti Televisioon (Estonian Television, ...

, freelance writer and nature campaigner. In Eesti Raadio he ran the program ''Looduse aabits'' (ABC book of nature) from 1976 to 1986. In October 1980, Jüssi was a signatory of the

Letter of 40 Intellectuals The Letter of 40 intellectuals, also The letter of 40 ( et, Neljakümne kiri), originally A public letter from Estonian SSR ( et, Avalik kiri Eesti NSV-st) was a public letter dated October 28, 1980 and posted a week later, in which 40 intellectual ...

, a public letter in which forty prominent Estonian intellectuals defended 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 protested 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 The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of the kremlins (Ru ...

in Estonia. The signatories also expressed their unease against Republic-level government in harshly dealing with youth protests in Tallinn that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the punk rock 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 ...

. In the beginning of the 1990s he was for a few years the president of

Estonian Nature Fund Estonian Fund for Nature (Eestimaa Looduse Fond) or ELF is an Estonian environmental non-profit organisation. Mission Mission of ELF is to preserve the rich natural diversity in Estonia and the world through active cooperation with individual ...

. Jüssi has published numerous books, articles and audio recordings related to nature. He was the first recipient of

Eerik Kumari Award Eerik Kumari Award () is an award given since 1989 to those who have excelled in bioscience in Estonia. It is named after Eerik Kumari (1912–1984), who was chairman of the National Conservation Committee of the Estonian Academy of Sciences from ...

, given to him in 1989. Jüssi is probably the most influential person in Estonia engaged in writing, talking and popularising nature.

Notes

1935 births Estonian biologists Estonian journalists Living people University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 3rd Class Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class {{estonia-scientist-stub