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Professor Receives Estonian Medal of Honor
Temira Pachmuss, professor emeritus of Slavic languages and literature, won a medal of honor from the Republic of Estonia for her meritorious service to the nation. Pachmuss received the Medal of the Order of the White Star on March 30 in ceremonies at the Estonian Embassy in Washington, D.C.
Born in Vask-Narva, Estonia, and educated in Germany, Australia, and the United States, Pachmuss devoted her career to the work of Russian writers who fled the Soviet Union after the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 and took up residency all over the world, including Estonia. She is widely recognized for her pioneering work on Zinaida Hippius, an influential Russian female poet of pre-World War I Russia. Pachmuss's work on Estonian literature includes the book Russian Literature in the Baltic Between the World Wars and 16 book chapters and essays.
Pachmuss first learned she had been chosen for the medal when a colleague saw her name on an Estonian website that announced the winners. She then received a phone call from the Estonian Embassy.
"It is a great honor for me to receive the medal," says Pachmuss. "I left Estonia as a child, but they still remember me and value my work. I am grateful for their recognition of my accomplishments."
Summer 2001