Ain Kaalep (4 June 1926 – 9 June 2020) 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, playwright, literary critic and translator.

Biography and career

Kaalep 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 ...

. He studied at the

Hugo Treffner Gymnasium Hugo Treffner Gymnasium ( et, Hugo Treffneri Gümnaasium; abbreviated as HTG) is a secondary school in Tartu, Estonia with special emphasis on science education. Founded by Hugo Treffner, it was the only large secondary school in 19th-century Est ...

and 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 ...

, from which he graduated in 1956, specializing in

Finno-Ugric languages Finno-Ugric ( or ; ''Fenno-Ugric'') or Finno-Ugrian (''Fenno-Ugrian''), is a traditional grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except the Samoyedic languages. Its formerly commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is ba ...

. He fought as a volunteer in the

Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 Infantry Regiment 200 ( fi, Jalkaväkirykmentti 200, JR 200, et, Jalaväerügement 200, JR 200) or soomepoisid (''Finnish Boys'') was a unit in the Finnish army during World War II made up mostly of Estonian volunteers, who preferred to fight aga ...

and after the war was imprisoned by the Soviet occupation authorities in Estonia. In 1989–2001, Kaalep was the editor-in-chief of the journal ''

Akadeemia ''Akadeemia'' is 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 * ...

''. In 2002 he held a one-year professorship of Liberal Arts at the University of Tartu. Kaalep was a member of the

Congress of Estonia The Congress of Estonia ( Estonian: ''Eesti Kongress'') was an innovative grassroots parliament established in Estonia in 1990–1992 as a part of the process of regaining of independence from the Soviet Union. It also challenged the power and au ...

He published mainly poetry collections. In addition, he translated into Estonian poetry and prose works from German (

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), Spanish (

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, ,

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), French (

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, To Hoai), Portuguese (

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), Catalan (

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), Ukrainian (

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), Polish (

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), English, Galician, Provençal, Turkish ( Nâzım Hikmet Ran), Tajik, Uzbek, Georgian, Finnish (

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), Latin (

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), and Ancient Greek (

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, together with Ülo Torpats). His son is politician

Ruuben Kaalep Ruuben Kaalep (born on 21 September 1993 in Tallinn) is an Estonian politician, poet and a Far-right politics, far-right (self-styled ethnofuturist) philosopher. He has been member of XIV Riigikogu. He is a founder of the Conservative People's Par ...

Honors

* Juhan Smuul literary award (1977, 1985) *

Juhan Liiv Juhan Liiv ( – ) is one of Estonia's most famous poets and prose writers. Childhood Juhan (birth names Johannes) Liiv, the son of Benjamin and Marianna Liiv (née Pärn), was born on 30 April 1864, in Alatskivi Parish (now Peipsiääre P ...

poetry award (1984) * Estonian State Cultural Awards (1995, 2002) * EST Order of the National Coat of Arms - 3rd Class BAR

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 (1996) *Honorary citizen of

Elva Elva may refer to: Places *Elva, Estonia, town in Tartu County, Estonia *Elva Parish, municipality in Estonia *Elva (river), a river in Estonia *Elva, Illinois, unincorporated community in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States *Elva, Manitoba, u ...

(1998) *

Officer of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon, ...

(2001) *

award “Contribution to Estonian National Identity” (2008) *

Wiedemann Language Award Wiedemann Language Award ( et, Wiedemanni keelauhind, full name The State F. J. Wiedemann Language Award) is an Estonian state award which is granted each year to one natural person for outstanding merits upon study, organisation, teaching, promo ...

(2010) *

Jaan Kross Jaan Kross (19 February 1920 – 27 December 2007) was an Estonian writer. He won the 1995 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Early life Born in Tallinn, Estonia, son of a skilled metal-worker, Jaan Kross studied at Jakob Westholm Gymnasiu ...

literary award (2010) *Honorary citizen of

and the Grand Cross of Tartu (2014) *Honorary member of the Pallas society (2016)

Works

* ''Aomaastikud'' (1962) * ''Samarkandi vihik'' (poetry, 1962) * ''Iidamast ja Aadamast ehk Antimantikulaator'' (play, 1967) * ''Järvemaastikud'' (1968) * ''Mäe veri (Totomauna)'' (play, 1970) * ''Klaasmaastikud'' (1971) * ''Paani surm ja teisi luuletusi'' (1976) * ''Peegelmaastikud'' (I 1976, II 1980) * ''Kuldne Aphrodite ja teisi luuletusi'' (1986) * ''Maavallast ja maailmakirjandusest'' (essays and literary criticism, 1984) * ''Minu silmad ja sinu silmad'' (play, 1965) * ''Kolm Lydiat'' (essays and literary criticism, 1997) * ''Haukamaa laulu'' (1999) * ''Jumalatosin'' (2008) * ''Muusad ja maastikud. Luuletusi aastaist 1945–2008'' (2008)

External links

* Sirje Olesk
Ain Kaalep and the Golden Aphrodite
''Estonian Literary Magazine'', 2/2011, 10–14. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kaalep, Ain Estonian male poets Estonian translators Estonian dramatists and playwrights 1926 births Writers from Tartu Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 3rd Class University of Tartu alumni Academic staff of the University of Tartu Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni Male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Estonian poets 2020 deaths