Uku masing
Uku Masing (* July 29 . Jul / 11. August 1909 greg. In the village of Lipa, community Raikküla , county Rapla / Estonia ; † 25. April 1985 in Tartu ) was an Estonian poet , theologian , Orientalist and ethnologist .
education
Uku Masing (birth name Hugo Albert Masing) was born into a Moravian family. From 1921 to 1926 he attended school in Tartu and then studied at the theological faculty of the University of Tartu . In addition to Latin , ancient Greek and Hebrew , he studied Semitic languages , Assyriology , psychology and ancient literature . In 1930 he completed his studies with a master's thesis on "The relationship between the Eli speeches and the other speeches in the Book of Job".
From 1930 to 1933 Masing received a scholarship at the universities of Tübingen and Berlin , where he deepened his studies on the Old Testament as well as in Arabic , Ethiopian and Jewish studies . In addition, he learned Indian and Polynesian languages .
scientist
In the fall of 1933 he accepted a teaching post from the University of Tartu for Semitic languages and the Old Testament. His outstanding works of the 1930s include the theological treatise The Word of Yahweh (1937) and his two-volume doctoral thesis on the prophet Obadja . Masing is considered to be the founder of analytical philosophy in Estonia. One of his students was the orientalist Arthur Võõbus .
From 1946 to 1964 Masing was scientific secretary of the consistory of the Estonian Evangelical Lutheran Church and lecturer at the Institute of Religious Studies, he taught Buddhism and Jewish mysticism. In the 1970s and 1980s he worked on the publication of international folkloric works, including on Finno-Ugric , Samoyed and Caucasian peoples. He was one of the co-authors of the twelve-volume encyclopedia of fairy tales .
poet
In addition to his academic work, Uku Masing is known as a poet who had a formative influence on Estonian poetry from the 1930s to 1960s. In 1935 his first volume of poetry, Neemed vihmade lahte , was published, which received great attention. Together with Betti Alver , Bernard Kangro , Kersti Merilaas , Mart Raud , August Sang , Heiti Talvik and Paul Viiding, he belonged to the Arbujad (German: shamans ) group, who were committed to a deeper spiritual experience and strong emotional tension. Masing's work is shaped by religious feelings.
After the Soviet occupation of Estonia, most of Masing's lyrical works were published in western countries. In addition, Masing wrote the novel Rapanui vabastamine ehk Kajakad jumalate kalmistul in the late 1930s , which only appeared posthumously in 1989.
Righteous among the peoples
Uku Masing and his wife Eha were awarded the title Righteous Among the Nations for the rescue of his Jewish colleague Isidor Levin from the murder by the German occupying forces in Estonia (1941–1944) .
Quote
Small peoples have a wider horizon because they cannot bypass the existence of others.
Selection of scientific papers
- 1936 "The Word of Yahweh" . - Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis (Dorpatensis). B, Humaniora. XXXIX, Tartu, 1936, pp. 1-60.
- 1938 "The Prophet Obadja. Vol. I: Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Obadja. Part I" . - Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis (Dorpatensis). B, Humaniora, XLI, Tartu, 1938, pp. 1-176.
- 1938 "The Proclamation of the Tab'al's Son (To Zach. 9)". - In piam memcriam A. von Bulmerincq, Riga, 1938, pp. 117-126.
- 1944 "The Origin of the Fairy Tale of the Stolen Thunder Instrument (Aarne-Thompson 1148B)" . - Journal for German Antiquity and German Literature 81, 1944, pp. 23-31.
- 1960 "The Gospel of the Old Testament". - Communio viatorium 2, 1960, pp. 123-132.
- 1961 "Confessio amantis". - Communio Viatorum , 1961, pp. 139-160.
- 1963 "Panta dynata". - Communio Viatorum 4, pp. 242-262.
- 1969 "C. Scott Littleton, The New Comparative Mythology: an anthropological assessment of the theories of Georges Dumézil" . - Semiotica 1, 1969, pp. 339-355.
- 1973 "De hermeneutica". - Communio Viatorum 1-2, 1973, pp. 1-29
- 1974 "Akkadian miksu in Eastern Europe" . - Economy and Society in the Ancient Near East, J. Harmatta and G. Komoróczy (toim.); Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientarum Hungaricae 22, 1974/1976, pp. 521-526.
- 1976 "Some remarks on the mythology of the people of Catal Hüyük". - Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis 392: Oriental Studies 3 / Tartu Riikliku Ülikooli Toimetised 392, Töid orientalistika alalt 3, Tartu 1976, pp. 75-92.
- 1979 "Elpida echomen". - Communio Viatorum 1, 1979, pp. 1-28
- 1981 "The" Hand "in the Old Testament and the Estonian Translation" . - La main et les doigts dans l´expression linguistique, Lacito-Documents Eurasie 6, Paris, SELAF, 1981, pp. 213-222.
- 1981 "The Opponent Seeker (AT 650 B). Variants from Caucasus and Siberia" . - Acta et commentationes Universitatis Tartuensis 558 / Oriental Studies VI, Tartu, 1981, lk. 17-35.
- 1982 Isidor Levin, Uku Masing, Armenian fairy tales . - Eugen Diedrichs Verlag, Düsseldorf, 1982, 283 pp.
- 1982 "Ocellot, Mal Ocellot" . - Folklorica: Festschrift for Felix J. Oinas. Indiana University, Uralic and Altaic Series 141. Bloomington, Indiana: Research Institute for Inner Asian Studies, 1982, pp. 173-184.
- 1984 "Estonians". - Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales. Concise dictionary for historical and comparative narrative research 4. Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter, 1984, pp. 479-491.
Lyric work
- 1935 Neemed vihmade lahte
- 1959–1963 Saadik Magellani pilvest
- 1956 Džunglilaulud
- 1974 Udu Toonela cheers
- 1985 Kirsipuu varjus
- 1988 Ehatuule maa
- 2002 Hannolaul
- 2002 Unenägija tessaraktis
- 2004 Lohe vari
- 2004 Piiridele pyydes
- 2004 Hurtsik lammutaks enda
- 2004 Surija Sandiristilt
- 2004 Rubaiid
- 2004 Tarbetud õpetussalmid
About Uku Masing
- Vincent B. Leitch , "Religious Vision in Modern Poetry: Uku Masing Compared with Hopkins and Eliot". - Journal of Baltic Studies 5, 1974, pp. 281-294. doi : 10.1080 / 01629777400000301
- Ivar Ivask , "Uku Masing: A poet between east and west". - Journal of Baltic Studies 8, 1977, pp. 16-21. doi : 10.1080 / 01629777700000021
- Aira Võsa , "Does language reflect the soul? Some aspects in the religious identity of Estonians in the eyes of Uku Masing" . - Journal of the European Society of Women in Theological Research 14, 2006, pp. 109-120.
- Peeter Espak , "Sumerian inim, Hebrew יר יהוה and Polynesian mana in the Early Theories of Uku Masing" . - Research on anthropology and the history of religion 43, 2012, pp. 71-85.
- Urmas Nõmmik , "Uku Masing and the Old Testament" . - Research on anthropology and the history of religion 43, 2012, pp. 187-198.
Web links
- Literature by and about Uku Masing in the catalog of the German National Library
- About Uku Masing (Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, English)
- Masing, Hopkins and Eliot (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the baptismal register of the parish Rappel (Estonian: Rapla kogudus)
- ↑ Uku Masing on the website of Yad Vashem (English)
- ↑ Estonian: Väikseil rahvail on juba seetõttu avaram silmaring, et nad ei pääse mööda teiste olemasolust , first published in Masing's essay: Kiriku ülesanne kultuurimandumisel ('The task of the church during Kulturverfall'), in: Tänapäev 5–6 / 1940 130. Reprinted in: Akadeemia 1/1989, p. 144; for the first time in German in: Estonia 3/1989, p. 130.
personal data | |
---|---|
SURNAME | Masing, Uku |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Masing, Hugo Albert |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Estonian poet, theologian, orientalist and ethnologist |
DATE OF BIRTH | August 11, 1909 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Lipa Village, Raikküla Municipality , Rapla County , Estonia |
DATE OF DEATH | April 25, 1985 |
Place of death | Tartu |