Ernst Peterson-Särgava

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Ernst Peterson-Särgava (to 1935 Ernst Peterson , also Karl Ernst Petersen , born April 17, jul. / 29. April  1868 greg. In Vana-Vändra ; † 12. April 1958 in Tallinn ) was an Estonian writer .

Life

Ernst Peterson was the son of a teacher and first learned from his father. From 1878 to 1883 he went to school in Vändra and Tori , after which he supported his father in school for three years. In the years 1886–1889 he studied at the Russian-speaking teachers' college in Tartu . From 1889 to 1891 he was an assistant teacher at the district school in Vändra, from 1891 a teacher in Sindi. This was followed by several years of employment at various schools in Estonia. From 1906 until after the Second World War he worked as an Estonian teacher in Tallinn.

Ernst Peterson-Särgava's grave in the Tallinn Forest Cemetery

In addition, Peterson was also politically active. He was several times a member of the Tallinn City Council (1907-1918, 1930-1933) and was elected to the State Assembly (Estonian Riigivolikogu ) in 1938 . He took the author's name Särgava in 1935, after the name of a farm belonging to his ancestors in the Vändra area.

Literary work

During his schooldays, Peterson-Särgava was influenced by the writings of Carl Robert Jakobson , whom he also met several times personally because he was an acquaintance of his father. This explains the social commitment that is characteristic of his later work. His first publications, however, were poems and translations, which appeared in the newspaper Olevik ('Present') from 1887 .

Peterson-Särgava's first independent allegorical story Nälg ('Hunger') also appeared in Olevik (1890). The author published his first book in 1895. Soon afterwards he presented his most important publication, a series of sober, realistic , sometimes naturalistic stories that were originally planned as a yearbook, but did not go beyond three deliveries ( Ulcers , 1899–1901). In this cycle, which has a symbolic title, the author succeeds in depicting the unmistakable dark sides of contemporary society without any glossing over. Here he deals with the exploitation of the peasants by the landlord (in the life story of an ox ), the hypocrisy of the pastors who want to explain the misery of the rural population with their godlessness (in Die Körnerkrankheit ), or the dubious role of the sexton (in Glory to God ) . This made Ernst Peterson-Särgava an important representative of early critical realism in Estonia. Along with Eduard Vilde, he was "probably the most conspicuous figure in this trend ."

In the beginning, Peterson-Särgava was often compared with Eduard Vilde, especially in a detailed essay by Friedebert Tuglas (1909). That Peterson-Särgava was assessed very critically here offended the author. This may be one reason that as he got older he published less and devoted himself to his educational work. In this area he wrote numerous school books.

Peterson-Särgava also published a number of plays and fairy tale books. At the end of his life he devoted himself to a large-scale historical novel about the 1840s and 1850s, which he could no longer complete. It was published posthumously by Olev Jõgi ( Let's go to town to write, make our lives easier , 1968).

Awards

  • 1957 popular writer of the ESSR

bibliography

  • Ei iialgi! ('No way!'). Rakvere : N. Erna 1895. 270 pp.
  • Paised 1-3 ('Ulcers 1-3'). Rakvere: N. Erna 1899-1901. 94 + 120 + 81 pp.
  • Rahva-valgustaja ('The People's Enlightener'). Jurjev: Uudised 1904. 237 pp.
  • Elsa ('Elsa'). Tallinn: M. Schiffer 1907. 100 pp.
  • Ennemuistsed jutud lastele ('fairy tales for children'). Tallinn: E. Peterson 1909. 16 pp.
  • Ennemuistsed jutud Reinuvaderist rebasest ('Märchen von Reineke Fuchs'). Tallinn: E. Peterson 1911. 95 pp.
  • Jutustused (' short stories'). Tallinn: Mõte 1916. 205 pp.
  • Sõnajala õis. Sewing 3 waatuses ('The flower of the fern. Play in three acts'). Tallinn: Eestimaa Kooliõpetajate VA Selts 1920. 112 pp.
  • Uus miniister. Sewing 3 waatuses ('The new minister. Drama in three acts'). Tallinn: Kool 1922. 98 pp.
  • Kogutud teosed 1-3 ('Collected Works 1-3'). Tartu, Tallinn: Loodus 1938-1939. 552 + 530 + 559 pp.
  • Paralyze linna kirjutama, oma elu kergendama 1-2 ('Let's go to town to write to make our lives easier'). Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 1968. 559 + 583 pp.

Secondary literature

  • Friedebert Tuglas: Eduard Wilde yes Ernst Peterson in: Noor-Eesti III. Tartu: Noor-Eesti 1909, pp. 113-194.
  • V. Alto: Ernst Petersoni elu ja looming . Tartu: Loodus 1934. 22 p. (Keel ja Kirjandus 9)
  • Paul Ambur: Ernst Särgava loomingu probleemistikust . Tartu / Tallinn: Kirjastus osaühisus 'Loodus' 1939. 248 pp.
  • Richard Alekõrs: E. Peterson-Särgava. Elu yes looming . Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1963. 163 p. (Eesti kirjamehi)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eesti kirjanike leksikon. Koostanud Oskar Kruus yes Heino Puhvel. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 2000, pp. 559-560.
  2. ↑ Richard Alekõrs: E. Peterson Särgava. Elu yes looming '. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1963, p. 9.
  3. ↑ Richard Alekõrs: E. Peterson Särgava. Elu yes looming '. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus 1963, pp. 22-23.
  4. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, p. 330.
personal data
SURNAME Peterson-Särgava, Ernst
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Peterson, Ernst; Petersen, Karl Ernst
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian writer
DATE OF BIRTH April 29, 1868
PLACE OF BIRTH Vana-Vändra
DATE OF DEATH April 12, 1958
Place of death Tallinn