Brigadier General James Monroe Williams

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Estonian Australians (Estonian: Eestlased Austraalias) refers to Australian citizens of Estonian descent or Estonia-born persons who reside in Australia. According to the 2021 Census, there were 11,598 people of Estonian descent in Australia and 2,665 Estonia-born people residing in the country at the moment of the census, having a increase of21 per cent compared to the 2016 Census. The largest Estonia-born community in Australia is in the state of New South Wales, with 4,265 people.[1]

From 1940 to 1944, more than 70,000 Estonians fled to the West due to the Soviet and German occupations. Many settled in Australia.[2] The first voyage under Arthur Calwell's Displaced Persons immigration program, that of the USS General Stuart Heintzelman in 1947,[3] was specially chosen to be all from Baltic nations, all single, many blond and blue-eyed, in order to appeal to the Australian public.[4] Of the 843 immigrants on the Heintzelman, 142 were Estonian.[5]

Notable people

See also

External links

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Cultural diversity: Census, 2021 - Australian Bureau of Statistics". 12 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Our new home: Estonian-Australian stories". migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au. 2007. Archived from the original on 5 September 2007.
  3. ^ "First of the Fifth Fleet". Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  4. ^ J. Franklin, Calwell, Catholicism and the origins of multicultural Australia, Proc. of the Australian Catholic Historical Society 2009 Conference, 42-54.
  5. ^ "Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild: USAT General Stuart Heintzelman". Retrieved 27 February 2017.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estonian_Australians