Gert Helbemäe

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Gert Helbemäe (* October 28 . Jul / 10. November  1913 greg. In Tallinn ; †  15. July 1974 in London ) was an Estonian writer. From 1947 he lived in exile in England .

Life

Gert Helbemäe was born as Gert Einborn in the Estonian capital Tallinn. In 1933 he graduated from the French Lyceum there.

Helbemäe then worked as a reporter for the Vaba Maa newspaper , and later for the Roheline Post and Uudisleht newspapers . At this time he was already writing his first fiction works and historical treatises about Tallinn. From 1934 he worked in the music and literature department of the Estonian radio ( Riigi Ringhääling ).

In a radio play competition organized by the Estonian Radio in 1939, the radio plays Maria viiul and Augusta Carolina submitted by Helbemäe took first and third place respectively. Until 1944 Helbemäe worked as a freelancer for Estonian radio. He was best known to a larger audience as a writer of radio plays.

In 1944 Helbemäe and his family fled from the (second) Soviet occupation of Estonia. The escape took him via Germany to England , where he settled in 1947. From December 1947 he worked as an editor of the Estonian exile newspaper Eesti Hääl . Helbemäe founded the PEN center in exile in England .

Literary work

Gert Helbemäe is best known for his around thirty radio plays. He also wrote numerous novels, especially during his time in exile. His work often deals with the city of Tallinn and Estonian history from the Middle Ages to the present day. Most of the time, especially in his later prose , the fate of the common people is central. Helbemäe's style and content are often characterized as "psychological realism".

Works (selection)

  • Tšaikovski Haapsalus (radio play, 1939)
  • Augusta Carolina (radio play, 1939)
  • Lumikellukeste sünd (radio play, 1940)
  • Võlutud pajupill (drama, 1941)
  • Vana Toomas ( short story, 1944)
  • Vaikija (collection of short stories and legends, 1947)
  • Elamata elu (novel, 1952)
  • Kägu odraokkaga (novel, 1953)
  • Õekesed (novel, 1955)
  • Sellest mustast mungast (novel in two volumes, 1957/58)
  • Ohvrilaev (novel, 1960)
  • Ainult ajutiseks (novel, 1964)
  • Minni ja Miku (children's book, 1968)
  • Pagejad (novel, 1971)
  • Üleliigne inimene (drama about the fate of Juhan Liiv , 1972)
  • Öö nõiapoes ( short stories, posthumously, 2002)

Secondary literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Armin Hetzer : Estonian literature. A historical overview. Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 978-3-447-05466-9 , p. 133
  2. ↑ Eesti elulood. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 85
  3. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), p. 578
  4. ↑ http://www.miksike.ee/docs/lisakogud/kirjandus/helbemae.htm
personal data
SURNAME Helbemäe, Gert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Einborn, Gert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 10, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Tallinn
DATE OF DEATH 15th July 1974
Place of death London