A sizzlingly hot actress, a former navy commander and eh, a man on the most wanted Nazis list, here are five of the most famous people from Estonia.
Mena Suvari
Not Estonian per se, but her father is from an Estonian background, so she qualifies for this list through the grandfather rule.
Suvari rose to prominence as the supposedly shy but secretly naughty Heather in American Pie, but her stand out performance came as the stunning Angela Hayes in American Beauty, where she plays a teenage girl who attempts to seduce Kevin Spacey’s character in a strange but extremely entertaining late 90s flick. The film was particularly memorable for Suvari being covered in rose petals in one of Spacey’s many sexual fantasies.
Her career has failed to hit the same heights since, something that became explicitly clear when she starred alongside the deplorable Rob Scneider in You May Not Kiss the Bride last year. Still, she remains very, very nice to look at and is a taster of what Irish fans with wandering eyes can expect to encounter in Tallinn later this week.
Mart Poom
Certainly the most famous Estonian footballer there has ever been, Poom played for Portsmouth, Derby, Sunderland, Arsenal and Watford before hanging up his gloves in 2009. At international level, he showed Shay Given-like longevity with 120 caps, while he’s still in and around the national team as Estonia’s goalkeeping coach.
Let’s hope he’s not passing on any tips to Estonia’s current number one Sergei Pereiko about coming up for corners late on as Poom is something of an expert on the matter. Observe his brilliantly-taken bullet header for Sunderland against former club Derby a few years back and his steadfast refusal to celebrate despite the best efforts of his teammates afterwards.
Erki Nool
A list of the top five Estonians simply wouldn’t be complete without a mention of Erki Nool, who was one of the few on this list that was instantly recognised as Estonian (by one JOE with encyclopaedic knowledge of all things Estonia) without a hint of internet research.
Erki won the gold medal for Estonia in the decathlon at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 despite not winning a single individual event. Technically, he won it by default considering that a decision to rule his third and final discus attempt as void was subsequently overruled.
Unaffected by the controversy, Erki has since gone into politics and is also a member of the Estonian Olympic committee.
Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen
Estonian names tend to be short, to the point and less than four syllables (see the rest of the people on this list), but von Bellingshausen bucked the trend spectacularly. Von Bellingshausen was a naval officer who circumnavigated the globe on behalf of the Russians in the 18th century and holds the unique distinction of being the first person to see Antarctica.
More impressive than his sea-faring exploits, however, are the sheer number of things named after him, ensuring that his legacy will be passed on down the von Bellingshausen bloodline for years to come. Amongst the various things that commemorate his name are an island in the Atlantic ocean, a crater on the far side of the moon and a planet with the indistinctive title 3659 Bellingshausen.
Mikhail Gorshkow
Those of you that thought Estonians were all a pleasant bunch may want to avert your eyes now. Gorhskow is a one-time Gestapo interpreter who is alleged to have been involved in the deaths of approximately 3,000 people in Belarus during World War II.
An investigation into his involvement in war crimes was conveniently closed last month on the basis that the possibility that more than one person with the surname Gorshkow collaborated with the Nazis could not be eliminated beyond reasonable doubt.
Sure, and OJ Simpson wasn’t guilty either.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
