Paul-Eerik studied literature at the University of Tartu, graduating in 1965.

Paul-Eerik Rummo is married to the actress, poet, author, and translator Viiu Härm.

[1] In October 1980, Rummo was a signatory of the Letter of 40 Intellectuals, a public letter in which forty prominent Estonian intellectuals defended the Estonian language and protested the Russification policies of the Kremlin in Estonia.

[2] The signatories also expressed their unease against republic-level government in harshly dealing with youth protests in Tallinn that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the punk rock band Propeller.

[2] In the novel Purge (in Finnish Puhdistus) by Sofi Oksanen, Rummo's poetry becomes a symbol of resistance against Russification in Estonia, sprinkled throughout the narrative.