Artur Adson ( – 5 January 1977) was an
Estonia
Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...
n poet, writer and theatre critic.
[Don Rubin, Peter Nagy, Philippe Rouyer, ''World Encyclopedia of Contemporary Theatre: Europe'', Taylor & Francis, 1995, , p248]
Early years
Artur Adson (born Karl Arthur Adson) was born in
Tartu
Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
and attended school in Tartu,
Sänna
Sänna ( vro, Sännä, german: Sennen) is a village in Rõuge Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. As of 2011 Census, the settlement's population was 55.
Poet and writer Artur Adson (1889–1977) grew up in Sänna village. Writer J ...
and
Võru
Võru (; vro, Võro; german: Werro) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish.
History
Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, according to the wish of the Empress Cather ...
. After graduating he first studied
surveying
Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...
in
Pskov
Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...
. In 1925–26, he studied literature at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
. Artur Adson was a surveyor, journalist and theater critic in Estonia and Russia. He met his future wife
Marie Under
Marie Under ( – 25 September 1980) was one of the greatest Estonian poets. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 12 separate years.
Early life
Under was born in Reval (now Tallinn), Estonia to school teachers ...
in 1913 and were married in 1927.
Literary career
![Siuru 1917](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Siuru_1917.jpg)
From 1917 Artur Adson was a member of the
Siuru
The Siuru literary movement, named after a fire-bird in Finnic mythology, was founded in 1917 in Estonia.Jean Albert Bédé, William Benbow Edgerton, ''Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature'', Columbia University Press, 1980, , p237Ru ...
literary movement, which exerted great influence on the Estonian literature. Later Adson was also active in the
Tarapita movement. In addition, Adson was one of the most outstanding poets in the
Võro language
Võro ( vro, võro kiilʼ, link=no , et, võru keel) is a language belonging to the Finnic branch of the Uralic languages. Traditionally, it has been considered a dialect of the South Estonian dialect group of the Estonian language, bu ...
of southern Estonia. As an often conservative theatrical and literary critic, he exercised influence on the cultural scene of the Republic of Estonia.
Exile
![Skogskyrkog23a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Skogskyrkog23a.jpg)
With the
Soviet occupation
During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into two different ...
of Estonia Artur Adson and his wife fled into exile to
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. There, he found employment as an archivist. Both continued their interest in the Estonian literature. Adson died in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, aged 87. Both Adson and Under are interred at the
Skogskyrkogården
Skogskyrkogården (; ) is a cemetery located in the Gamla Enskede district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects the development of architecture from Nordic Classicism to mature function ...
cemetery in Stockholm.
Poetry collections
*''Henge palangoq'' (1917)
*''Vana laterna'' (1919)
*''Roosikrants'' (1920)
*''Kaduvik'' (1927)
*''Katai, kibuvits nink kivi'' (1928)
*''Pärlijõgi'' (1931)
*''Lehekülg ajaraamatust'' (1937)
*''Värsivakk'' (selected, compiled and foreword by
Ivar Grünthal; 1959)
*''Rahumäe kannel'' (1973)
*''Luuletused'' (compiled by Oskar Kruus; 1990)
Plays
*''Toomapäev'' (1928)
*''Neli kuningat'' (1931)
*''Lauluisa ja Kirjaneitsi'' (1930)
*''Kolmas tee'' (penned under the pseudonym Peeter Bollmann; 1932)
*''Iluduskuninganna'' (1933)
*''Elav kapital'' (1934)
*''Karu läheb mee lõksu'' (1936)
*''Üks tuvi lendab merele'' (1937)
Memoirs
*''Käsikivi'' (1922)
*''Neli veskit'' (1946)
*''Väikelinna moosekant'' (1946)
*''Ise idas – silmad läänes'' (1948)
*''Siuru-raamat'' (1949)
*''Reisiraamat'' (1950)
*''Lahkumine'' (1951)
*''Kadunud maailm'' (1954)
Theatre critiques and history
*''Das estnische Theater'' (1933)
*''Vilet ja loorbereid'' (1938)
*''Teatriraamat: ajalugu ja isiklikke kogemusi'' (1958)
Children's books
*''Nakits: lugu väikesest lõbusast ja targast koerast'' (1944)
References
External links
Artur Adson at Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adson, Artur
1889 births
1977 deaths
People from Rõuge Parish
People from the Governorate of Livonia
Estonian male poets
20th-century Estonian poets
20th-century male writers
University of Tartu alumni
Estonian World War II refugees
Estonian emigrants to Sweden
Refugees in Sweden
Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class
Burials at Skogskyrkogården
Estonian critics