August Gailit (9 January 1891 – 5 November 1960) was an

Estonian Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...

writer.Endel Nirk, Arthur Robert Hone, Oleg Mutt, ''Estonian Literature: Historical Survey with Biobibliographical Appendix'', Published by Perioodika, 1987, p177

Life

Georg August Gailit was born in Kuiksilla (near Sangaste Castle), Sangaste Parish (now Otepää Parish),

Kreis Dorpat Kreis Dorpat (''Tartu kreis'', ''Дерптский уезд'', 1893-1918 ''Юрьевский уезд'') was one of the nine subdivisions of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northeastern part of the gover ...

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

, the son of a carpenter and grew up on a farm in

Laatre Laatre is a small borough (') in Valga County in southern Estonia, located about 16 km northeast of the town of Estonia. Between 1992 and 2017, until the 2017 administrative reform of Estonian local governments, Laatre was the administrativ ...

. From 1899 he attended schools in the parish and the town of Valga from 1905, then from 1907 a municipal school 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 ...

. From 1911 until 1914 he worked as a journalist in today's

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

and Estonia in 1916 until 1918. In the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

he participated as a war correspondent. From 1922 until 1924 August Gailit lived in Germany, France and Italy. After that he worked as a freelance writer in Tartu and from 1934 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. From 1932 until 1934 he was the director of the Theater

Vanemuine Vanemuine () is a theatre in Tartu, Estonia. It was the first Estonian language theatre. History ''1870–1906 The Beginning of the Beginning. Koidula’s Theatre, Wiera’s Theatre.'' On June 24, 1870 was the first day in Estonian theatre ...

in Tartu. In 1932 August Gailit married to actress Elvi Vaher-Nander (1898–1981) and his daughter Aili-Viktooria was born in 1933. With the

Soviet occupation of Estonia The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

, Gailit fled with his family in September 1944 to Sweden, where he worked as a writer. They settled in the Ormesta manor house near

Örebro Örebro ( , ) is the sixth-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of the Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

. He died there on 5 November 1960 and was buried at the Örebro northern cemetery.

Literary career

In 1917 August Gailit, along with some other writers and poets, founded a literary group called " Siuru" with which their erotic poems caused some scandal. Members of the group included:

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 ...

Henrik Visnapuu Henrik Visnapuu ( – 3 April 1951) was a well-known Estonian poet and dramatist. Life Henrik Visnapuu was born in Helme Parish, Viljandi County, Livonia. He first attended the village school in Reola (today in Ülenurme Parish) and college ...

, Johannes Semper,

Peet Aren Peet Aren (29 June 1889 Odiste, Võisiku Parish – 26 January 1970 New York City) was an Estonian painter and theatre artist, graphical artist. 1908-1913 he studied at an art school in St. Petersburg ( et, Peterburi Kunstide Edendamise Seltsi ...

Friedebert Tuglas Friedebert Tuglas, born Friedebert Mihkelson or Michelson (2 March 1886 – 15 April 1971) was an Estonian writer and critic who introduced Impressionism and Symbolism to Estonian literature.Artur Adson Artur Adson ( – 5 January 1977) was an Estonian 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 ...

. The early prose of Gailit also contained erotic content and satire. Until the middle of the 1920s Gailit was strongly influenced by neo-romanticism.

Oswald Spengler Oswald Arnold Gottfried Spengler (; 29 May 1880 – 8 May 1936) was a German historian and philosopher of history whose interests included mathematics, science, and art, as well as their relation to his organic theory of history. He is best known ...

and

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to consciousness, subject, perspective a ...

also exerted great influence in his work. His famous novel ''

Toomas Nipernaadi ''Toomas Nipernaadi'' is a 1928 Estonian novel by August Gailit, as well as the (assumed) name of the novel's protagonist. It was strongly influenced by neo-romanticism. The story of the book was made into a film titled ''Nipernaadi'' in 1983. ...

'' (which was made into a movie in 1983) describes the romantic and adventurous life of a vagabond. Some of his novels covered political issues such as the novel ''Isade maa'' (1935) which addressed the subject of the Estonian 1918–20 war of independence. Gailit's novel ''

Üle rahutu vee '' Üle rahutu vee'' is a novel by Estonian author 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 Biobibliogr ...

'' (published in 1951 in

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Sweden) concerns the tragic event of having to leave ones homeland.

Selected works

*''Kui päike läheb looja'' (tale, 1910) *''Saatana karussell'' (collection of novels, 1917) *'' Muinasmaa'' (novel, 1918) *''Klounid ja faunid'' (Serial, 1919) *''Rändavad rüütlid'' (collection of novels, 1919) *''August Gailiti surm'' (collection of novels, 1919) *''Purpurne surm'' (novel, 1924) *''Idioot'' (collection of novels, 1924) *''Vastu hommikut'' (collection of novels, 1926) *''Aja grimassid'' (Serial, 1926) *''Ristisõitjad'' (collection of novels, 1927) *''

'' (novel, 1928) *''Isade maa'' (novel, 1935) *''

Karge meri Karge may refer to: * 4822 Karge, an asteroid named after Orville B. Karge (1919–1990) * Joseph Kargé Joseph Kargé (July 4, 1823 in Poznan, Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia – December 27, 1892 in New York City) was a military o ...

'' (novel, 1938) *''Ekke Moor'' (novel, 1941) *''Leegitsev Süda'' (novel, 1945) *''

'' (novel, 1951) *''Kas mäletad, mu arm?'' (prose, 3 volumes, 1951–1959)

References

External links

August Gailit at Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gailit, August 1891 births 1960 deaths People from Otepää Parish People from Kreis Dorpat Estonian male novelists 20th-century Estonian novelists 20th-century male writers Estonian military personnel of the Estonian War of Independence Estonian World War II refugees Refugees in Sweden Estonian emigrants to Sweden