RASK attorney-at-law Siret Saks has provided pro bono advice to the Estonian National Culture Foundation, helping it resolve issues concerning the will and testamentary estate of Tiiu Alliste, important to the launch of the new Harmatali scholarship fund dedicated to the support of Estonian children’s literature.
The Estonian National Culture Foundation is a charitable entity created to ensure the preservation and development of national culture by supporting the preservation of Estonian cultural heritage through the targeted accumulation and distribution of funds.
According to RASK, on January 26, 2018, Olav Ehala, the Chairman of the Board of the Estonian National Culture Foundation, signed an agreement with Tiiu Alliste to establish the Harmatali Foundation, under the ENCF's umbrella, to support the creation of Estonian children’s literature that carries on Estonian folk traditions and introduces Estonian cultural heritage to children. Tiiu Alliste then donated 1,000 euros to the ENCF to establish the foundation, and named it as the sole beneficiary of her estate. The foundation will be ready to award its first scholarships in autumn 2019.
Tiiu Alliste, nee Harmatali, was born in England. Her parents, Enn and Harta, were war refugees who kept the Estonian language and culture alive in their new home in the UK. In 2011, Alliste returned to Estonia, where she died on December 31, 2018. According to her wishes, the Estonian National Culture Foundation buried her remains, along with those of her parents, in Tallinn's Metsakalmistu cemetery.
