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Lennart Meri
Estonia
Lennart Meri served as the first post-Soviet President of Estonia from 6 October 1992 to 8 October 2001. Before his presidency, he was a filmmaker and writer, directing ethnographic films such as Veelinnurahvas 1973 and Linnutee tuuled 1978. As a historian and translator, he also led the Estonian independence movement. He died of brain cancer in Tallinn on 14 March 2006.