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President Ilves presented the Folklore Awards

27.02.2009

Today at the Estonian Literary Museum, President Toomas Hendrik Ilves presented the Folklore Awards to Urmas Haud and Taisto-Kalevi Raudalainen.

“As his principal work, Urmas Haud studies galaxies and the universe. However, he is also very interested in collecting the traditions of the villages of Riisa and Tõramaa in the Tori Rural Municipality of Pärnu County and studying the family trees of the residents of Riisa. He has also made this material available on the Internet. This is a research subject that is much smaller than a galaxy, but just as important for us all,” said President Ilves.

“Taisto-Kalevi Raudalainen, who studies our related peoples, has donated audio and video materials on the Ingrians in Ingria and elsewhere to the Estonian Folklore Archives. Estonian humanists have collected materials related our related peoples’ cultures for a very long time. Thus much that is valuable has been and is being saved. Thus we help maintain the foundations of our related peoples’ cultures, as well as the foundation of our own culture,” said the Head of State.

President Ilves thanked everyone who is dedicated to the collection and preservation of traditions. “This may be salaried work, but it is purely a calling, without any grand embellishments.”

The award for the best folklore collector, which was established by the Head of State in pre-war Estonia, was restored in 1993 at the proposal of the Estonian Literary Museum with the support of the President of the Republic’s Cultural Foundation. The amount of the monetary award is determined by the Cultural Foundation at the proposal of Estonian Literary Museum and is presented by the President of the Republic. The size of this year’s award was 10,000 EEK.

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