Aleksander Antson (31 August 1899 – 21 September 1945) was an Estonian journalist, writer, and track and field athlete. Aleksander Antson was born in Võrsna, on the island of

Saaremaa Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring . The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island and west of Muhu island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago. The capital of the island i ...

. He trained as a school teacher for Estonian and Sport. Antson worked from 1916 as a teacher and journalist. 1925-26 he worked as an editor at '' Virulane'', 1927-1930 at '' Rahva Sõna'' and 1931-1933 at '' Vaba Maa''. Interested in political and social issues of the day, he was influenced by

expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. With other like-minded intellectuals he formed a loose literary group under the name "Aktsioon", with whom he published three literary almanacs (1926, 1927, 1929) with his friend Valter Kaaver. In the 1920s gained recognition as a political writer. His plays describe the horrors of war and the revolutionary struggle, and were among the popular stage works of the time. In the 1930s he turned to lighter subjects and authored two novels, and penned numerous satirical epigrams and travel stories. He was also active in the workers' sports movement. In the Estonian team, he participated in the

1924 Summer Olympics The 1924 Summer Olympics (french: Jeux olympiques d'été de 1924), officially the Games of the VIII Olympiad (french: Jeux de la VIIIe olympiade) and also known as Paris 1924, were an international multi-sport event held in Paris, France. The op ...

in Paris in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

. During the first Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940-41 he was employed by the communist party newspaper ''

Rahva Hääl ''Rahva Hääl'' (lit. ''The People's Voice'') was the official daily newspaper of the Communist Party of Estonia during Soviet occupation of Estonia. It was founded shortly after the first Soviet takeover in 1940 based on offices and resources ...

'' (''The People's Voice''). Along with the likes of

August Gailit August Gailit (9 January 1891 – 5 November 1960) was an Estonian writer.Endel Nirk, Arthur Robert Hone, Oleg Mutt, ''Estonian Literature: Historical Survey with Biobibliographical Appendix'', Published by Perioodika, 1987, p177 Life Georg ...

August Jakobson August Jakobson (2 September 1904 – 23 May 1963) was an Estonian writer and politician. He was one of the few Estonian playwright among his contemporaries whose plays were untouched by Soviet censorship and reached other Soviet states. He h ...

Mait Metsanurk Mait Metsanurk (born Eduard Hubel, 19 November 1879 – 21 August 1957) was an Estonian writer who led the neo-realist school of Estonian literature. Early years Mait Metsanurk was born as the youngest of eight children in a peasant family in ...

, and

August Mälk August Mälk (4 October 1900 – 19 December 1987) was an Estonian writer and politician. Life August Mälk was born on , in Lümanda Parish in the village of Koovi (then named Kipi-Koovi), located on the west coast of the island of Saare ...

, he expressed sympathy for Communism. With the German occupation of Estonia (1941–44) Antson was arrested and put in jail. He died in 1945 in a car accident in

Haapsalu Haapsalu () is a seaside resort town located on the west coast of Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Lääne County, and on 1 January 2020 it had a population of 9,375. Description Haapsalu has been well known for centuries for its w ...

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Antson, Aleksander 1899 births 1945 deaths People from Saaremaa Parish People from Kreis Ösel Estonian journalists Estonian non-fiction writers Estonian male writers Estonian male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes for Estonia Athletes (track and field) at the 1924 Summer Olympics 20th-century journalists Male non-fiction writers Road incident deaths in Estonia Burials at Metsakalmistu