Friedrich Nikolai Russow

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Friedrich Nikolai Russow (* April 2 . Jul / 14. April  1828 greg. In Tallinn , † July 9 jul. / 22. July  1906 greg. In Saint Petersburg ) was an Estonian museologist , journalist , writer , poet and artist .

Life

Russow went to Paide and Tallinn to school and studied from 1847 to 1851 at the University of Saint Petersburg Law . After that he worked until 1863 in various posts in the government administration in Tallinn. From 1863 he held state positions in Saint Petersburg, where he also died.

From 1863 to 1885 he was Secretary of the State Mining Administration in Russia , from 1886 to 1899 Conservator of the Department of Engravings and Drawings at the Imperial Hermitage , and at the same time from 1865 to 1905 Conservator of the Ethnographic Museum of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences , whose Director at the time The time was Anton Schiefner , who was also born in Tallinn . Officially he was only a deputy; Since the incumbent had died and no successor had been appointed, he was the only employee who was the head of the department.

activity

Russow took an early interest in Estonian culture and collected Estonian folk songs, some of which are printed in the three-volume collection of Alexander Heinrich Neus (1850-1852). Between 1854 and 1857 he published twelve issues of a periodical "Tallinna koddaniko ramat omma söbbradele male" ('A Tallinn citizen's book for his friends in the country'), which provided news from the Crimean War and has been described as the first Estonian political news magazine.

In 1860, together with Wilhelm Greiffenhagen , he founded the Revalsche Zeitung in Tallinn , which was in German, but mainly campaigned for the interests of the Estonian population. After Russov's move to Saint Petersburg, however, the paper quickly lost its importance as far as Estonian national emancipation was concerned. By contrast, it was one of the most important newspapers for the Baltic German minority in Estonia until 1940 .

Russov's political commitment was shown in a petition to the Russian Interior Minister denouncing the rude treatment of Estonian peasants in connection with the peasant uprising in Mahtra in 1858. As he was responsible for translations into Estonian at the governorate administration, he had access to extensive background material. He also provided the writer Eduard Vilde with related information, who then indirectly incorporated him into his novel Kui Anija mehed Tallinnas käisid ('When the men from Anija came to Tallinn'). According to a letter from Schiefner, Russow was even considered to be a candidate for mayor for Narva in 1862 .

Russow belonged to the so-called "Petersburg Patriots", as a group of Estonians active in the capital of the Russian Empire was called, who were committed to greater national self-determination in their home country. They also included the painter Johann Köler and Philipp Karell , one of the personal physicians of Tsars Nicholas I and Alexander II.

He lived under the same roof with Johann Köler for a while, and he also took painting lessons with him. Above all, various cityscapes are known of him. He also worked as a book illustrator.

Literary work

Russow's own literary work is relatively narrow and limited to a few poetry publications, which, however, should be emphasized because of their form - in some cases he used the meter of old Estonian folk poetry. Its importance for Estonian literature is more in the organizational and journalistic area. He was particularly important for Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald , whose first fairy tale he published and illustrated in 1860. Further deliveries were planned, which, however, did not materialize due to Russow's various other activities, and to make matters worse, Russow lost part of the manuscript. The follow-up deliveries did not come out until 1864 and 1865 by Laakmann in Tartu, and a complete complete edition was then published by the Finnish Literature Society in Helsinki in 1866 . However, Russow acted as the stimulus for a translation of Kreutzwald's fairy tales into German, which finally appeared in Halle in 1869 - after Schiefner was arranged.

bibliography

  • Söalaul Eestimaa tüttarlastele ('War liled for the daughters of Estonia'). Tallinn: sn 1854. 4 pp.
  • Ued kandlekeled ('New Zither Strings '). Tallinn: sn 1854. 22 p.
  • Russian landscapes and images of life . Reval: Lindfors' heirs 1864. 128 pp.

Literature on the author

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Voldemar Erm: Friedrich Russow, in: Looming 6/1981, p. 866.
  2. ↑ See Juhan Peegel: Tallinna kodaniku raamatust. FN Russowi 150. sünniaastapäevaks, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 4/1978, pp. 228-229.
  3. ↑ Eesti kirjanike leksikon. Koostanud Oskar Kruus yes Heino Puhvel. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 2000, p. 484.
  4. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. From the beginning to the present. Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter 2006, p. 189.
  5. ^ Voldemar Erm: Friedrich Russow, in: Looming 6/1981, pp. 861–862.
  6. ↑ St. Petersburg and Livonia - and the development of Estonian literature. Anton Schiefner (1817–1879) and Friedrich R. Kreutzwald (1803–1882) in correspondence. Edited by Hartmut Walravens . Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag 2013, p. 227.
  7. ^ Voldemar Erm: Friedrich Russow, in: Looming 6/1981, p. 865.
  8. ↑ Epp Annus, Luule Epner, Ants Järv, Sirje Olesk, Ele Süvalep, Mart Velsker: Eesti kirjanduslugu. Tallinn: Koolibri 2001, p. 89.
  9. ^ Voldemar Erm: Friedrich Russow, in: Looming 6/1981, p. 864.
  10. ↑ H. Treumann: Lisandusi “Eesti rahva ennemuistsete juttude” publitseerimisloole, in: Keel ja Kirjandus 2/1960, pp. 93-102.
  11. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt: Estonian literature in German translation. A reception story from the 19th to the 21st century. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2011, pp. 77–78.
  12. ↑ Ehstnische fairy tale. Recorded by Friedrich Kreutzwald. Translated from Estonian by F. Löwe, former librarian ad Petersb. Akad. D. Sciences. Along with a foreword by Anton Schiefner and comments by Reinhold Köhler and Anton Schiefner. Halle: Verlag der Buchhandlung des orphanage 1869. 365 p.
personal data
SURNAME Russow, Friedrich Nikolai
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian museologist, journalist, publicist, poet and artist
DATE OF BIRTH April 14, 1828
PLACE OF BIRTH Tallinn
DATE OF DEATH July 22, 1906
Place of death St. Petersburg