Doctor Riina Saarma, who submitted the appeal together with her brother, Estonian Academy of Sciences (ETA) president Mart Saarma, wrote that they have already submitted the same request and appeal to Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) and Tallinn City Council chair Toomas Kruusimägi (Reform).

"Their position was supportive of our appeal, but if the process should drag and city leaders change, we ask that you endorse our request and stand by it until it is implemented," Riina Saarma wrote to the ministry.

She wrote that she and her brother are convinced that, as Estonia transitions to Estonian-language education, now — before the start of the new school year — is the right time to restore the name Elfriede Lender High School, and asked that the ministry arrange the necessary steps.

"When Estonia's independence was restored, many cities, streets, institutions and schools had their original names reinstated — yet unfortunately, the school founded by Lender did not," Saarma highlighted. "Elfriede Lender High School has had to wait a very long time, but now the time has finally come."

The doctor also acknowledged that for their family, the name change is personal as well.

"Our mother, Valve Saarma (nee Valve Erika Luberg), who became Estonia's first female professor of internal medicine, and our aunt, academic Helle Simm (nee Helle Aida Luberg), were members of Elfriede Lender Private High School's class of 1938 (26th graduating class)," she described. Thus, our request and appeal for the name change are being made as family members of alumnae."

The restoration of Tallinn Central Russian High School's original name has been discussed since Estonia regained its independence in 1991, but questions have been raised about whether a formal name change would suffice if the substance of the school itself were to remain the same.

To date, no one has stepped forward to establish a new school based on Lender's original principles.

Elfriede Lender Private Girls' High School, named after its founder and principal, Estonian educator Elfriede Lender, operated in Tallinn from 1907 to 1940. Among the school's notable teachers were Gustav Ernesaks, Ernst Peterson-Särgava and Marta Sillaots.

In 1935, the school moved into a new building at Kreutzwaldi 25. Before that, it had operated in buildings on Maakri tänav, of which only the street-facing section remains today; the rest have been demolished.

The school remained open through 1940, after which it was renamed Tallinn High School No. 6.

Today, the school building on Kreutzwaldi tänav houses Tallinn Central Russian High School, which was a Russian-language school until the transition to Estonian-language education began.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!