Ilmar Jaks

Ilmar Jaks (born April 4, 1923 in Asuküla, today in Vilkla, Ridala rural community , Lääne County ; † September 1, 2019 in Stockholm ) was an Estonian writer .

exile

Ilmar Jaks was born to Alexander Jaks (1880-1958) and his wife Minna Emilie Abner (1895-1966). After finishing high school in Haapsalu , he worked as a journalist in Tallinn . With the outbreak of the Second World War he fought in a Finnish unit against the Soviet Union . He fled the Soviet captivity of war on adventurous routes. In 1945 he was able to flee into exile via Finland to Sweden . From 1949 to 1953 Jaks studied law at Uppsala University . He then worked as a lawyer in Stockholm and temporarily lived in numerous places in Western Europe.

writer

Jaks made his debut as a prose writer in 1949 . In Saaremaalt Leningraadi: Tööpataljonlase päevik 1944–1945 he processed his experiences in a labor battalion near Leningrad . In 1958 he presented his first collection of short stories with Aruanne . This was followed by other short stories and novels that were published in exile publishers in Sweden. Jaks' work could not be printed in Estonia until Estonian independence was regained. In 1992 and 2004 he was awarded the renowned " Friedebert Tuglas Literature Prize" in Estonia .

In his books, Ilmar Jaks repeatedly deals with the war and the post-war period. His gaze is that of the refugee in exile. The focus is always on the individual. Jaks is not tied to his own fate, but tries to work out the universally human in his novels and novels.

Private life

Ilmar Jaks was married to Astrid Kruus (1929–1976) for the first time. After the death of his wife, he married the French - Vietnamese poet Ariane Kveld Jaks (* 1964).

Most important works

• Saaremaalt Leningraadi: Tööpataljonlase päevik 1944–1945 (Stockholm 1949)
• Aruanne (short stories, Lund 1958)
• Eikellegi maal. Ülestähendusi Siimonist (Roman, Lund 1963)
• Mapp: novelle ja katkendeid (novellas, Lund 1970)
• Keldrist pööningule (Lund 1971)
• Augeiase tallid (novellas, Lund 1977)
• Talu (Roman, Lund 1980)
• Neptune. Õiguse telgitagustest (Roman, Stockholm 1981)
• Augeiase tallid (novellas, 1991)
• Pimedus (novellas, Tartu 2003)
• Pleenum Heaolu Keskasutuses (Tallinn, 2004)

literature

• Jaan Undusk : Anarhisti pilguga. Ilmar Jaks - Skai Ramli - Sky Rambler, in: Looming 6/1993, pp. 807-827.
• Asta Põldmäe : Millest ei saa rääkida, sellest tuleb teistmoodi rääkida, in: Looming 4/2013, pp. 529-540.
• Janika Kronberg : Meie eakaaslane Ilmar Jaks, in: Looming 4/2018, pp. 556-561.
• (Nekrolog), in: Looming 10/2019, p. 1511.

Web links

• Biography and work (Estonian Literature Information Center)
• About Ilmar Jaks (French)
• The novellas by Ilmar Jaks (cultural newspaper Sirp )