Richard Viidalepp

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Richard Voldemar Viidalepp (until 1933 Viidebaum also: Wiedebaum ); (Born January 10 . Jul / 23. January  1904 greg. In the yard Jalapuu, village Nurmsi , rural community Paide , Estonia ; † 3. June 1986 in Tartu ) was an Estonian folklorist and anthropologist .

Life

Viidebaum began his studies in 1925 in the Philosophical Faculty of the University of Tartu (German: Dorpat ). His encounter with the collector of folklore documents Matthias Johann Eisen inspired him to ask questions about folk songs , puzzles and stories about folk beliefs and supernatural things in his relatives and in the rural surroundings of his homeland . In 1927 he had already put together a 440-page manuscript with materials from his homeland.

In May 1929 Viidebaum was employed as a 25-year-old student at the Estonian Folklore Archive ( Eesti Rahvaluule Arhiiv, ERA ). He continued his research and publications in collaboration with the archive. During the various occupations during the Second World War , the collections of the archive were hidden and saved through the initiatives of Viidalepp. At the beginning of 1945 the archive was able to continue its work in Tartu. In 1947 the research departments of the University of Tartu were relocated to the Estonian capital Tallinn , the folklore department became a staff unit there, while the archives remained in Tartu.

Viidalepp concentrated in his work from 1956 to 1962 on folk tales and narrative traditions. He defended his doctoral thesis in 1965.

Publications

  • Of a great Estonian narrator and his repertoire , in: Acta Ethnologica 2, 1937, 3: pp. 158-173
  • The telling of folk tales as a work-promoting magic rite , International Congress for Anthropology and Ethnology; 7, Academy of Sciences of the Estonian SSR , Tallinn 1964
  • New edition, as editor: Estonian folk tales , translated by Eugenie Meyer, specialist editing by Richard Semrau; Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1990 ISBN 3-05-000393-6

literature

  • Mall Hiiemäe: Richard Viidalepp: A Folklorist with an Ethnological Inclination , in: Kristin Kuutma / Tiiu Jaago: Studies in Estonian Folkloristics and Ethnology. A Reader and Reflexive History, Tartu University Press, Tartu 2005 ISBN 9949-11-110-2

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Viidalepp, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Viidebaum, Richard (original name); Wiedebaum, Richard (different spelling of the original name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Estonian folklorist and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1904
PLACE OF BIRTH Nurmsi , Paide Rural Municipality , Estonia
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 1986
Place of death Tartu