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 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 in Pskov. 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

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

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. There, he found employment as an archivist. Both continued their interest in the Estonian literature. Adson died in Stockholm, 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