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President Ilves: Justinas Marcinkevičius was a good friend of the Estonian people

19.02.2011

“Today, as Lithuania says good-bye to Mr. Justinas Marcinkevičius, Estonia shares in the mourning and sorrow of the Lithuanians,” said the President, Mr. Toomas Hendrik Ilves, in remembering the great poet, translator and play writer, who passed away this week.

“Mr. Justinas Marcinkevičius was a creator with a sensitive, yet powerful, mind who embodied the conscience of his people and was also one of the foremost spokesmen for the restoration of Lithuania’s independence as part of the Sajudis people’s movement,” President Ilves recalled. “However, Estonia and Justinas Marcinkevičius also shared a close, very personal relationship, as he was the one who translated our national epic, Kalevipoeg, into the Lithuanian language. He was a good friend of the Estonian people.”

In 2004, the Republic of Estonia awarded Mr. Justinas Marcinkevičius with the Order of the White Star, Class II.

“I would like to send my words of condolence to the next of kin of Mr. Justinas Marcinkevičius and to all the Lithuanian people,” President Ilves said.

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