Gustav Adolph Oldekop

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Gustav Adolph Oldekop (born November 21st July / December 2,  1755 greg. In Haapsalu ; † April 26th July / May 8th  1838 greg. In Tartu ) was an Estonian poet and man of letters. He is considered one of the founders of Estonian-language journalism.

Life

Gustav Adolph Oldekop was born into the Baltic German family of a school principal. His ancestors originally came from Hildesheim . He first attended the knight and cathedral school in Tallinn . He then studied theology at the University of Halle from 1774 to 1780 . From 1781 to 1820 Oldekop was pastor in Põlva and later became provost of Võrumaa.

In 1782 he married the sister of his friend, the writer Johann Philipp Roth , Dorothea Elisabeth Maria Roth (1762–1804). From 1809 Oldekop was together with his housekeeper Dorothea Jürgens, who looked after the children after the death of his first wife. In 1820 the widower had to give up the ministry to marry Dorothea. He moved to Tartu ( Dorpat ), where he lived until his death.

Estophile

Raising the educational level of the rural Livonian population and promoting the Estonian language were Oldekop's main concerns. In 1796/97 Oldekop compiled the first Estonian-language calendars. The farm bill of 1819, the Russian Tsar in Livonia the emancipation stated that he translated into the South Estonian language . It was published in 1820/21 under the title Liiwlandi marahwa seädus . In 1822 Oldekop published his influential Mötlemisse Jummala teggude päle on creation and nature.

newspaper

Oldekop earned particular merit as one of three editors of the first regularly appearing Estonian-language newspaper, the Tarto maa rahwa Näddali-Leht (March to December 1806, 41 issues). He thus laid the foundation for an independent Estonian-language journalism .

Later he was editor-in-chief of the Tartu newspaper Kulutamisse Lehte in the South Estonian language for five issues , which was then continued by Otto Wilhelm Masing as Tallorahwa Kulutajana in the North Estonian language (today's form of Estonian ).

Lyric poet

In addition, Oldekop was one of the first poets of the South Estonian language. However, he remained largely unknown to his contemporaries (such as Kristian Jaak Peterson ). It was only through the work of Johann Heinrich Rosenplänter that his poems were published in print. During his lifetime, only four poems appeared under his own name (published in 1823 in Rosenplänter's Contributions to the Exact Knowledge of the Estonian Language , volume 16, under the heading Four Songs by Pastor Oldekop in Dorpat ).

Most of Oldekop's poems were for teaching purposes, especially for school singing lessons, and for church use. Oldekop's songs spread quickly, either orally and through handwritten hymn books.

Gustav Adolph Oldekop is now buried in the Põlva cemetery.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Entry in the baptismal register of the parish of Hapsal (Estonian: Haapsalu kogudus)
personal data
SURNAME Oldekop, Gustav Adolph
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian poet and man of letters
DATE OF BIRTH December 2, 1755
PLACE OF BIRTH Haapsalu
DATE OF DEATH May 8, 1838
Place of death Tartu