Linnart Mäll facts for kids
Linnart Mäll (born June 7, 1938 – died February 14, 2010) was an important person from Estonia. He was a historian, which means he studied the past. He was also an orientalist, someone who studies the cultures and languages of Asia. Besides that, he was a translator and even a politician.
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Early Life and Education
Linnart Mäll was born in Tallinn, Estonia. He went to the University of Tartu and finished his studies in 1962. He focused on general history there. After that, he continued his learning by doing special research in oriental studies from 1964 to 1966. He also studied history at the University of Tartu until 1969. Later, in 1985, he earned his PhD in history. His special project was about an ancient text called "Ashtasāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitā" and how it could be used to understand history.
Career and Research
From 1969 to 1973, Mäll worked as a teacher at Tartu State University. However, he was later removed from his job. This happened because he had different ideas about how society should be run, which were not popular with the government at the time. For ten years, he worked as an engineer in a special office that studied Asian cultures.
In 1983, he was able to return to academic work. He became the head of a lab that studied history and Semiotics, which is the study of signs and symbols. Later, he led another lab focused on oriental studies. From 1994, he was the head of the Centre for Oriental Studies at the University of Tartu.
Mäll's main research was about:
- Ancient Buddhist texts, especially from the Mahāyāna branch of Buddhism.
- Buddhist stories and beliefs.
- Old Indian literature and culture.
- Classical Chinese writings.
- Texts from Tibetan Buddhist texts.
- The history of smaller nations and peoples.
He was one of the first to use a method called semiotic analysis to study Buddhist texts. This means he looked at the deeper meanings and symbols within the texts. He was a key figure in the field of oriental studies in the 1960s and 1970s. In the 1990s, he worked on an idea about "humanistic base texts." These are important texts that have shaped human history and values.
Important Connections
Linnart Mäll was inspired to study Buddhism by a famous Estonian thinker named Uku Masing in the early 1960s. He also worked with many other important Buddhist and non-Buddhist teachers and scholars.
Mäll became a teacher and spiritual guide for many young Estonian Buddhists and orientalists. In the 1990s, he became close with The Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. Mäll helped organize both of the Dalai Lama's visits to Estonia in 1991 and 2001. He also started the first Mahāyāna Institute in Estonia, which operated from 1991 to 1994.
Awards and Recognition
Linnart Mäll received several awards for his work:
- In 2001, he was given the Order of the White Star, a high honor in Estonia.
- In 2004, he received the Medal of Freedom from the government of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria in exile.
Linnart Mäll passed away in Tartu on February 14, 2010, after battling cancer.
Memberships and Activities
Linnart Mäll was involved in many different groups and organizations:
- He founded the Estonian Oriental Society in 1988 and was its president until 2001. After that, he became its honorary president.
- He was a member of the American Oriental Society.
- He belonged to the Learned Estonian Society.
- He was part of the Academic Baltic-German Cultural Society in Tartu.
- He was a member of the Academic Historical Society.
- He was also a member of the Estonian Writers' Association.
- He was an honorary member of the Estonian Tibetan Cultural Society.
Beyond academic groups, Mäll was also active in politics and international relations:
- He was one of the founders and the first chairman of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) from 1991 to 1993. This organization helps groups of people who do not have their own country or voice in international affairs.
- He was a member of the Estonian Congress and the Estonian Committee from 1990 to 1992.
- He was part of the Estonian Constitutional Assembly from 1991 to 1992, which helped create Estonia's new constitution.
- He served as the Vice Chairman of the Estonian National Independence Party from 1992 to 1994.
- He founded and led the Estonian Paneuropean Union starting in 1992.
