Matthias Johann Eisen

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Matthias Johann Eisen

Matthias Johann Eisen (born September 28, 1857 in Vigala (German: Fickel ), Läänemaa , Estonia ; † August 6, 1934 in Tartu ( Dorpat ), Estonia) was an Estonian folklorist , ethnologist and poet with the pseudonym M. Oese .

Life

Eisen was born as the son of the school teacher in the village of Oese . From 1871 he attended the Third City Elementary School for Boys in Pärnu ( Pernau ), where the teaching languages ​​were German and Russian. In 1872 he switched to the district school in Haapsalu ( Hapsal ) where Eisen was only taught in German, but learned Latin, Greek and French. From 1875 he attended high school in Pärnu. During this time he wrote small treatises on historical topics and made translations from French and German.

In 1879 Eisen became a theology student at the University of Tartu , which he graduated in 1885. During his student days he had contact with the two important national associations of Estonians, the Eesti Üliõpilaste Selts ( Association of Estonian Students ) and the Eesti Kirjameeste Selts ( Estonian Literature Association ).

A job as a theologian at that time was very difficult for an Estonian in the German-dominated Church of Estonia. So he turned to the Lutheran Church in Saint Petersburg . Eisen was ordained as a pastor in Lempaala , Ingermanland , on December 21, 1886 . In 1887 he went to Karelia , in Petrozavodsk he became vicar. In 1888 he became pastor again in Kattila , before he then held a position as pastor at the Nikolaikirche in Kronstadt from 1888 to 1912 . He was also responsible for the Lutheran members of the Russian navy in Kronstadt. He held his services in Estonian, Finnish and Swedish.

In 1889 Eisen married Ella Petronius , who belonged to the Ingrier minority . Until 1922 he held religious instruction in Estonian, but also in Finnish and German and gave language courses for Estonian in elementary and high schools.

Folklorist

Eisen left his post in Kronstadt for health reasons, the humid sea climate did not suit him, and went to Tartu. In the years before his return to Estonia, he had already studied the folklore of his country and published books on popular stories. The most important was the four-volume work Eesti rahvanali from 1909, which was reprinted in 1910.

In 1919 Eisen was appointed first as a private lecturer and in 1921 as a personal professor at the University of Tartu to teach Estonian folklore there. The university had become a national university after the country's independence. He was officially adopted in 1927, but occasionally still gave lectures.

Publications (selection)

Matthias Johann Eiseni mälestuskivi.JPG

Eisen was immensely productive and has published "over 200 books" in his life, of which only "a small part is of lasting value." The following can be named as the most important publications:

  • 1909: Eesti rahvanali ('Estonian Schwänke'). Narva.
  • 1911: Eesti ennemuistsed jutud ('Estonian fairy tales'). Tartu.
  • 1914: Eesti vanadsõnad ('Estonian Proverbs'). Tartu.
  • 1919: Eesti müütoloogia . ('Estonian Mythology'). Tartu.
  • 1920: Eesti uuem müütoologia . ('Modern Estonian Mythology'). Tartu.
    • 1925: German: Estonian mythology , revised and annotated by the author; Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig 1925.
  • 1926: Eesti vana usk . ('Estonia's Old Faith'). Tartu.
  • 1931: Meie jõulud .
  • 1932: Kevadised pühad . ('Spring Festival') Tartu.

New editions:

Eisen as a poet

In addition to his important folklore work, Eisen also appeared as a poet. He put together anthologies of Estonian poetry, made a translation of the Finnish Kalevala (1891–98) and published a number of volumes of poetry. At best, however, his epic poetry still attracts attention today.

Many of his fairy tales have appeared in various fairy tale collections in German-speaking countries. In the past, some of his poems were also published in German in the Düna newspaper or the St. Petersburg Herald . Occasionally his poems have also been included in translation anthologies.

literature

  • Erik Amburger : The pastors of the Evangelical Church in Russia from the end of the 16th century to 1937. A biographical lexicon , Institut Norddeutsches Kulturwerk, Martin Luther Verlag, 1998
  • Walter Anderson : MJ Eisen as a folklorist . In: Dorpater newspaper . No. 222, Sept. 29, 1927, Tartu 1927
  • Kristin Kuutma / Tiiu Jago (Ed.): Studies in Estonian Folkloristics and Ethnology. A Reader and Reflexive History , Tartu University Press, Tartu 2005 ISBN 9949-11-110-2
  • Oskar Loorits : MJ Eisen † . In: Meeting reports of the Estonian Scholarly Society at Dorpat 1934 . Learned Estonian Society , Dorpat, 1936, pp. 339-344

Web links

Wikisource: Matthias Johann Eisen  - Sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Eesti kirjanike leksikon. Koostanud Oskar Kruus yes Heino Puhvel. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat 2000. p. 75.
  2. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt : History of Estonian Literature. Berlin, New York 2006 ( ISBN 3-11-018025-1 ), p. 302.
  3. ↑ Cornelius Hasselblatt: Estonian literature in German translation. A reception story from the 19th to the 21st century. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz 2011, pp. 284–286.
  4. ^ Individual references in: Cornelius Hasselblatt: Estonian Literature in German Language 1784-2003. Bibliography of primary and secondary literature. Bremen: Hempen Verlag 2004, pp. 36–37.
  5. ^ Estonian poems. Translated by W. Nerling. Dorpat: Laakmann 1925, pp. 52-55.
personal data
SURNAME Eisen, Matthias Johann
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian folklorist and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1857
PLACE OF BIRTH Vigala , Lääanemaa , Estonia
DATE OF DEATH August 6, 1934
Place of death Tartu , Estonia