Karl Ristikivi

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Karl Ristikivi (born October 3 jul. / October 16, 1912 greg. In Uue-Varbla, then community Saulepi, parish Varbla, Livonia , today rural municipality Varbla , Pärnu county , Estonia , †  19 July 1977 in Stockholm , Sweden ) was an Estonian writer .

Life

Karl Ristikivi was born in the small town of Uue-Varbla (German Neu-Werpel ) in West Estonia as the illegitimate child of a servant girl in poor circumstances. He graduated from the six-level elementary school in Varbla ( Werpel ) before attending the commercial school in the Estonian capital Tallinn ( Reval ) until 1930 . In 1931/32 he graduated from the evening high school in Tallinn. From 1936 to 1942 Ristikivi studied geography at the University of Tartu ( Dorpat ) . He graduated cum laude .

During the German occupation of Estonia, Ristikivi volunteered as a translator in the Wehrmacht in 1943 , but fled to Finland in the same year and from there to Sweden in 1944. He lived in Sweden as a writer in exile until his death in 1977.

Today a monument erected in 1987 in Varbla commemorates Karl Ristikivi. A small museum in Tartu is dedicated to his life and work.

Literary work

Karl Ristikivi made his debut as a writer in the 1930s with stories and tales in Estonian newspapers. During this time his children's books Lendav maailm (1935), Semud (1936), Sinine liblikas (1936), Sellid (1938) became known. Ristikivi became known to a larger audience through the family novels Tuli ja raud (1938, first prize at the Loodus literature competition), Õige mehe koda (1940, initially published under the title Võõras majas ) and Rohtaed (1942), which are summarized as the "Tallinn Trilogy" were.

After he emigrated , the novels Kõik mis kunagi oli (1946) and Ei juhtunud midagi (1947) followed, which describe life in Estonia on the eve of the Second World War . In 1953 Hingede öö appeared in the style of modernism . The book is considered to be the first surrealist novel in Estonian literature . Ristikivi described the work itself as a "realistic fairy tale".

In the 1960s and 1970s, prose based on the philosophy of history followed . Among the most famous works include Põlev lipp (1961), Viimne linn (1962), Surma ratsanikud (1963), Mõrsjalinik (1965), Rõõmulaul (1966), Nõiduse õpilane (1967), Õilsad südamed ehk Kaks sopra Firenze's (1970) Lohe hambad (1970) and Kahekordne mäng (1972).

With Imede saar (1964) and the collection of short stories Sigtuna väravad (1968), Ristikivi also presented two anti- utopias . His last novel, Rooma päevik , was published in 1976. In 1980 a collection of his short prose was published posthumously with Klaassilmadega Kristus .

In addition to his writing activity, Ristikivi was engaged as a prolific literary critic and scholar. In 1954 his history of Estonian literature, Eesti kirjanduse lugu , was published, in 1967 his monograph on the exile Estonian writer and poet Bernard Kangro (1910-1994). Ristikivi published his own volume of poetry in 1972 under the title Inimese teekond .

literature

Works by Ristikivi

  • The Night of Souls , translated from Estonian by Maximilian Murmann, Guggolz Verlag 2019.

About Ristikivi

  • Cornelius Hasselblatt: History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), pp. 540-542 and 569-574.
  • Endel Nirk: Teeline, yes, tahed. Eurooplase Karl Ristikivi elu. Tallinn 1991.
  • Rein Raud: Afterword. In: The Night of Souls , pp. 358–371, Berlin 2019.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eesti Elulood. Tallinn: Eesti Entsüklopeediakirjastus 2000 (= Eesti Entsüklopeedia 14) ISBN 9985-70-064-3 , p. 429
personal data
SURNAME Ristikivi, Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ristikivi, Karp
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian writer
DATE OF BIRTH October 16, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH Uue-Varbla, then Saulepi municipality, Varbla parish, Livonia , today Varbla rural municipality , Pärnu county, Estonia
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1977
Place of death Stockholm , Sweden