Albert Kivikas

Albert Kivikas (photo from the 1930s)

Albert Kivikas (born January 6 ^{. Jul} / 18 January 1898 ^greg. In Suure-Jaani ; † 19th May 1978 in Lund , Sweden ) was an Estonian writer and journalist.

life and work

Grave in the Tallinn Forest Cemetery

Albert Kivikas was born into a weaver family in Viljandi County . The family moved frequently during his childhood. Albert Kivikas therefore attended various schools from 1907 to 1913 before he settled with his mother near Viljandi and attended the commercial school. In 1916 he switched to the (state) commercial school in Tartu in order to avoid being called up for military service in the Russian army during the First World War . His teacher in Estonian and French was among others the linguist Johannes Aavik .

With the outbreak of the Estonian War of Independence , Tartu fell into the hands of the Bolsheviks on December 22, 1918 . Kivikas fled back to Viljandi and joined the Estonian troops there as a volunteer under the leadership of Karl Einbaum . He served on the front at Võrtsjärv , Rõngu , Valga and Sangaste before returning to Tartu.

In the spring of 1919, Kivikas graduated from commercial school. From autumn 1920 Kivikas studied at the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Tartu , among others with the psychologist Konstantin Ramul and with the writer and literary scholar Gustav Suits . In 1922, Kivikas broke off his studies and moved to Berlin as a journalist . In August 1923 he moved back to Estonia . In Tartu he settled as a freelance writer and journalist (including as a court reporter). In the 1920s in particular, he was one of the most widely read Estonian writers for his novellas , short stories and novels .

In 1927 he moved to the capital Tallinn . At first he was employed as a literary critic for the newspaper Vaba maa before he wrote for Eesti Päevaleht from 1931 to 1934 and from 1935 to 1938 he headed the culture section of the newspaper Uus Eesti . At the same time he was active in the theater. From 1935 to 1938 he was dramaturge at the Eesti Draamateater and from 1938 to 1940 at the Estonia Opera and Concert Hall .

During the German occupation of Estonia, Kivikas worked for the newspaper Eesti Sõna from 1941 to 1944 . At the same time he was from 1941 to 1943 chairman of the Estonian Writers' Union ( Eesti Kirjanikkude Liit ). Before the Soviet occupation of Estonia, Albert Kivikas and his family fled to Helsinki in April 1944 and then to Sweden . He worked there as an archive employee as well as an editor for the Estonian-language newspaper Eesti Post . In 1978 Kivikas died in exile in Lund.

plant

Albert Kivikas started out as a poet during his time at commercial school . He became known to a larger audience with the sonnet Kevadine külm , published in 1916 in Die Zeit and Sakala under the pseudonym A. Pedajas. From 1917 onwards, his prose also appeared . In 1919 a collection of short stories was published under the title Sookaelad (under the pseudonym Mart Karus). Later, Kivikas turned more and more to futurism . The majority of his work from the mid-1920s can then be assigned to neorealism . In addition to his journalistic work, Kivikas also worked as a translator from Russian and German (including ETA Hoffmann , Georg Ebers , Nikolai Gogol ).

Kivikas' best-known work is the novel Nimed marmortahvlil ( German The Names on the Marble Tablet ) , published in 1936 . He describes the fate of Estonian youth who fought in the Estonian War of Independence (1918–1920). The novel is based on the author's personal experience. The hero of the novel, Henn Ahas, has strong autobiographical traits. The book had great success in Estonia and is considered the best-known literary work on the war of freedom. Kivikas published three serial novels, which could only appear in Swedish exile (1948, 1951 and 1954). In 2002 the book was made into a lavish film and was a big box-office success.

Literary works (selection)

• "Ohverdet konn" (short stories, together with Erni Hiir , 1919)
• "Lendavad sead" (short stories 1919)
• "Sookaelad" (short stories, 1919)
• "Mina" (short story, 1920)
• "Verimust" (novellas and short stories, 1920)
• "Maha lüüriline šokolaad!" (literary manifesto, 1920)
• "Jüripäev" (novel, 1921)
• "Nõuandja" (children's story, 1921)
• "Lumimemm" (children's story, 1921)
• "Verine väits" (Novella, 1922)
• "Ristimine tulega" (novel, 1923)
• "Jaanipäev" (novel, 1924)
• "Mihklipäev" (novel, 1924)
• "Murrang" (novel, 1925)
• "Miniatüürid" (short stories, 1926)
• "Süütu" (novella, 1927)
• "Punane ja valge" (novellas, 1927)
• "Vekslivõltsija" (novel, 1931)
• "Nimed marmortahvlil" (novel, 1936)
• "Nimed marmortahvlil" (drama, together with August Annist , 1939)
• "Karuskose" (novel, 1943)
• "Nimed marmortahvlil II" (novel, 1948)
• "See on see maa" (Poem, 1950)
• "Nimed marmortahvlil III" (novel, 1951)
• "Nimed marmortahvlil IV" (novel, 1954)
• "Tulililled" (short stories, 1957)
• "Kodukäija" (novel, 1963)

Private life

Albert Kivikas was married twice. He had five sons and a daughter.

literature

• Herbert Salu: Albert Kivikas . Lund 1971
• Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), pp. 401f., 488f.

Web links

• Literature by and about Albert Kivikas in the catalog of the German National Library
• Albert Kivikas: Writer of the Republic (Estonian Literary Magazine)
• Short biography, pictures, works (Estonian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 165