Meie Kodu (English: Our Home) is an Estonian language newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, from 1949.[1][2]
History edit
Meie Kodu was first published on August 14, 1949, by Estonian immigrants.[3] The Estonian community in Australia in 1949 was estimated to be approximately 3,000 people.[4] Most Estonians who arrived in Australia following the end of World War Two came as 'Displaced Persons' or refugees who were leaving their homeland following the imposition of Soviet rule in 1944.
Typical of other non-English language newspapers in Australia, Meie Kodu played an important role in keeping newly arrived Estonians aware of the domestic situation in Estonia and also played an important role in providing information useful for daily living in their adopted home of Australia - "...to acquaint readers with the life of Estonians here, their working conditions as well as their social activities, their political status and their hopes, in order to lighten our countrymen’s task of settling to a new life”.[4] The 'information useful for daily living in their adopted home of Australia' has been replaced by reports on Estonian community activities in all States and Territories of Australia.
The paper was published initially as a weekly but started fortnightly publication from its 16 January 2013 issue. During its 70th year in 2019, Meie Kodu officially ceased publication.[5]
Digitisation edit
The paper has been digitised as part of the Australian Newspapers Digitisation Program.[6]
See also edit
References edit
- ^ Zubrzycki, Jerzy; Miriam Gilson (1967). The foreign-language press in Australia, 1848-1964. Australian National University.
- ^ "Meie Kodu". Australian Newspaper Digitisation Project. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Oras, Ants (1967). Estonian literature in exile: An essay. Eesti Kirjanike Kooperatiiv.
- ^ a b Vidang, V. (19 August 1949). "Introduction". Meie Kodu. p. 3. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
- ^ Vann-Wall, S. (2018) "For Estonian refugees, a masthead made a new home, half a world away". Estonian World.
- ^ "Meie Kodu". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 November 2012.
External links edit
- Meie Kodu = Our Home (Sydney, NSW : 1949 - 1954) at Trove
- Press timeline: Select chronology of significant Australian press events to 2011 *http://www.nla.gov.au/anplan/heritage/NewspaperChronology.html
- The birth of the newspaper in Australia https://web.archive.org/web/20121021091603/http://australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/birth-of-the-newspaper
- Isaacs, Victor, Kirkpatrick, Rod and Russell, John (2004). Australian Newspaper History: A Bibliography http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/eserv/UQ:9521/anb_rk.pdf
- Estonian Archives in Australia
- Meie uus kodu : Estonian-Australian Stories
- For Estonian refugees, a masthead made a new home, half a world away