Arved Viirlaid (April 11, 1922 – June 21, 2015) was an Estonian-Canadian writer. Viirlaid was born in

Padise Padise is a village in Lääne-Harju Parish, Harju County in northern Estonia. (retrieved 27 July 2021) Padise is the birthplace of Estonian poet and author Arved Viirlaid (1922–2015). Gallery File:Padise Klooster.jpg, Padise Abbey Pa ...

Harju County Harju County ( et, Harju maakond or ''Harjumaa''), is one of the fifteen counties of Estonia. It is situated in Northern Estonia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland, and borders Lääne-Viru County to the east, Järva County to the sou ...

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 ...

. Arved Viirlaid fought in the Estonian regiment in Finland during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, returning to Estonia in 1944. He escaped from Soviet-occupied Estonia, settling first in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, and then moving to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1953. Viirlaid published 9 novels and several collections of poetry. His first novel, ''Tormiaasta'' (The Year of Storms), was published in 1949. In 1952, he published (Graves Without Crosses), which was translated from Estonian into seven other languages. The English translation appeared in 1972, with a preface by

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker ( ; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 and 1979 to lead the party to an electio ...

. His 1965 novel, ''Sadu jõkke'' (Rain for the River) has also been translated into English. He was awarded the

Order of the National Coat of Arms The Order of the National Coat of Arms ( et, Riigivapi teenetemärk, french: Ordre du Blason National) was instituted by Konstantin Päts on 7 October 1936 to commemorate 24 February 1918, the day on which Estonian independence was declared. The ...

, 3rd Class, by the President of Estonia in 1997.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Viirlaid, Arved Estonian male novelists 1922 births 2015 deaths Estonian emigrants to Canada Estonian World War II refugees People from Lääne-Harju Parish Estonian Academy of Arts alumni Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 3rd Class 20th-century Estonian novelists Finnish military personnel of World War II