Re: Virginia Woolf
Did you know that Virginia Woolf was brought up only a few doors away from the Estonian Embassy?
Well, actually, she wasn't. She was brought up at 22 Hyde Park Gate and the present Estonian Embassy is number 16. The Estonian Embassy in London from 1919 until 1989, was at 167 Queen's Gate.
The observant ones among you will wonder why, when Estonia was part of the Soviet Union from 1944-1991, the Estonians had an embassy in London until 1989. Simple. Britain never de iure recognised the Soviet occupation of Estonia. It's a shame that the continuity was broken just two years before independence was regained, as the Estonians could no longer afford their old embassy.
But it did bring them nearer to Virginia Woolf's childhood home. Which may explain why "Orlando", "To the Lighthouse" her essays, and "The Waves" have appeared in Estonian translation.
If you buy the Thames and Hudson book in the Literary Lives series on Virginia Woolf (Page 8), you will see that the present Estonian Embassy bears a remarkable similarity to the house in which Woolf was brought up, in the same way that Alatskivi Manor in eastern Estonia is a copy of Balmoral.
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