Jaan Kärner

Jaan Kärner (* 27. May 1891 in the village Käo, then community Kirepi today Landsgemeinde Rõngu , Tartu county , † 3. April 1958 in Tartu ) was an Estonian writer.

Life

Jaan Kärner was born the son of a farmer. From 1901 to 1906 he attended the ministerial school in Uderna (today the rural municipality of Rõngu). From 1906 he was active in literature. From 1910 Kärner worked in various magazine editorial offices in Tallinn . In 1911/12 and 1914 he studied at the Municipal People's University "AL Shanyawski" in Moscow . From 1917 Kärner was also politically active and in 1919 editor-in-chief of the trade union newspaper Töö hääl (German voice of work ).

In 1921 Kärner settled in Elva . From 1927 to 1929 he worked as editor-in-chief at the magazine Looming , 1936-1938 at the magazine Tänapäev and 1940/41 at the publishing house Ilukirjandus ja Kunst . From the beginning of the 1920s he worked as a freelance writer. During the German occupation of Estonia (1941–44), Kärner lived in the Soviet Union . With the Soviet occupation of Estonia he returned to his homeland and joined the communist rulers. He then worked as an editor for various newspapers and magazines as well as in publishing. In the mid-1940s, Kärner fell mentally deranged and died in Tartu in 1958.

plant

Jaan Kärner has made a name for himself primarily as a poet and is particularly known for his natural poetry . Many of his poems have been set to music by Estonian composers for choral music. In addition, Kärner wrote numerous novels , plays, literary reviews as well as scientific literary and historical treatises. He translated works from German and Russian , including a translation of Heinrich Heine's poems into Estonian in 1934 .

Works (selection)

Poetry collections

• "Aja laulud" (1921)
• "Lõikuskuu" (1925)
• "Õitsev sügis" (1926)
• "Inimene ristteel" (1932)
• "Sõna-sütega" (1936)
• "Käidud teedelt" (1939)
• "Kodumaa käsk" (1942)
• "Viha, ainult viha" (1944)

Verse novel

• "Bianka ja Ruth" (1923)

Novels

• "Naine vaesest maailmast" (1930)
• "Soodoma kroonika" (1934)
• "Tõusev rahvas" (2 volumes, 1936/1937)
• "Pidu kestab" (1938)

memories

• "Kadunud aegade haemarusest" (1935)
• "Öösiti kumavad linnad" (1939)

Scientific treatises

• "Ärkamisaegne Eesti Ühiskond" (1924)
• "Eesti Näitelava 19. aastasajal" (1923)
• " Estonia kuuskümmend aastat" (1925)

Literary reviews

• "Lehed tuulde" (2 volumes 1924/1937)
• "Eesti uuemad luuletajad" (1925)

literature

• Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), pp. 442f.

Web links

• Life, work, pictures (Estonian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt, History of Estonian Literature , p. 443