Aarand Roos

Aarand Roos
Roos in 2014
Born	(1940-05-28)May 28, 1940 Tartu, Estonia
Died	August 9, 2020(2020-08-09) (aged 80) Tallinn, Estonia
Citizenship	Estonian
Awards	Order of the National Coat of Arms (Class IV, 1998)
Academic background
Alma mater	Lund University; Uppsala University (study)
Thesis	'Morfologiska tendenser vid språklig interferens med estniska som bas' (1980)
Academic work
Discipline	Linguistics; Finno-Ugric studies
Institutions	Lund University; Consulate General of Estonia in New York; Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Estonia)
Notable works	Jumalaga, Kars ja Erzurum (1975); Lehmatapja (1964)

Aarand Roos (28 May 1940 – 9 August 2020) was an Estonian linguist, writer (prose and poetry) and diplomat. He spent much of his life in exile in Sweden and the United States, including service as consul of the Republic of Estonia in New York (1982–1995), before returning to Estonia in 1996.[1][2]

Roos was born in Tartu into a family of philologists. In July 1944 his family fled Estonia to Sweden as part of the wartime refugee exodus, arriving in Stockholm on 12 July 1944.[3]

He studied Finno-Ugric languages at Lund University (with additional study periods at the universities of Helsinki, Szeged and Uppsala). He defended his doctoral dissertation at Lund University on 2 April 1980; the dissertation was titled Morfologiska tendenser vid språklig interferens med estniska som bas (1980).[3][4]

After completing his doctorate, Roos taught Finno-Ugric languages at Lund University.[3] In the 1970s he worked in the Estonian Service of the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. (1976–1978).[2][1]

From 1982 to 1995 he served as consul at the Estonian consulate/consulate general in New York, working alongside Consul General Ernst Jaakson; the National Archives has described his tenure as part of maintaining Estonia's legal continuity abroad during the period of non-recognition of Soviet annexation.[2] He returned to Estonia in 1996 and worked as a translator/interpreter at the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs until 2005.[2][3][1]

In Estonia, Roos was active in the Estonian Christian People's Party (later the Party of Estonian Christian Democrats), serving on its board and standing as its presidential candidate.[3][5]

Roos published fiction and poetry as well as works in linguistics and cultural history. His book Jumalaga, Kars ja Erzurum (1975; expanded edition 1992) concerns the history, life and language of the Estonian settlement of Uus-Estonia in northeastern Turkey and was based on fieldwork in the region.[3][6]

(Selection based on the Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary and ESAS.)[1][6]

• Lehmatapja (novel, 1964)
• Tallermaa: reisikirjeldus tuhandete põldude maalt (1968)
• Esto-Atlantis (short stories, 1974)
• Jumalaga, Kars ja Erzurum (1975; expanded ed. 1992)
• Konsuli kõned 1982–1991 (1993)
• Words for Understanding Ethnic Estonians (1993)
• Eesti kergejõustiku pool sajandit paguluses, ajalugu ja edetabelid (1998)
• Staadionilt statistikasse. Lugusid eesti spordi ajaloost (2009)
• Areenilt arhiivi. Lugusid eesti spordi ajaloost (2013)

Roos was awarded the Order of the National Coat of Arms (Class IV) in 1998 for services connected to maintaining the continuity of the Republic of Estonia.[7] According to a later biographical account, he returned the decoration in 2003 as a political protest related to Estonia's accession to the European Union.[3]

In 2010 he was elected an honorary member of the Estonian Sports History Society (Eesti Spordiajaloo Selts).[8]

Roos came from a family of philologists; his father was classical philologist Ervin Roos [et], and his brother is classical philologist and archaeologist Paavo Roos [et].[3] He was a Baptist.[3] Roos was married to Maaja Duesberg, who is the granddaughter of composer Rudolf Tobias; they had two children.[5]

• Media related to Aarand Roos at Wikimedia Commons
• "Eesti Vabariigi järjepidevuse hoidmine väljaspool Eestit (Rahvusarhiiv)". Rahvusarhiivi ajaveeb (in Estonian). Retrieved 2026-01-19.
• "VIAF authority record". VIAF. Retrieved 2026-01-19.