Fred Jüssi (born January 29, 1935) is an Estonian biologist, nature writer and photographer.[1] [2]
Jüssi was born in Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, where his father worked for a Venezuelan oil company.[3] His family returned to Estonia and settled in Tallinn when Jüssi was 3 years old. After finishing high school in Tallinn he studied biology and zoology at the University of Tartu, graduating in 1958. He has worked as a school teacher (from 1958 to 1960 in Emmaste, Hiiumaa), as inspector for nature protection (1962–1975),[3] radio broadcaster for Eesti Raadio, freelance writer and nature campaigner.[1] In Eesti Raadio he ran the program Looduse aabits (ABC book of nature) from 1976 to 1986.[3]
In October 1980, Jüssi was a signatory of the Letter of 40 Intellectuals, a public letter in which forty prominent Estonian intellectuals defended the Estonian language and protested the Russification policies of the Kremlin in Estonia.[4] The signatories also expressed their unease against Republic-level government in harshly dealing with youth protests in Tallinn that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the punk rock band Propeller.
In the beginning of the 1990s he was for a few years the president of Estonian Nature Fund. Jüssi has published numerous books, articles and audio recordings related to nature.[3] He was the first recipient of Eerik Kumari Award, given to him in 1989.
Jüssi is probably the most influential person in Estonia engaged in writing, talking and popularising nature.[5]