August Alle ( in

Viljandi Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tartu ...

– 8 July 1952 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 ' ...

) 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 writer.Endel Nirk, Arthur Robert Hone, Oleg Mutt, ''Estonian Literature: Historical Survey with Biobibliographical Appendix'', Published by Perioodika, 1987, p215

Early life

August Alle was the son of a stonemason. He attended the parish school in

, then the evening school in

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

. In 1915, he enrolled as an external student in

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, p=ɐˈrʲɵl, lit. ''eagle''), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast situated on the Oka River, approximately south-southwest of Moscow. It is part of the Central Fed ...

and began studying

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

, but he soon abandoned those studies. From 1915 to 1918 he studied medicine at the University of Saratov. From August 1922 Alle studied law 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 ...

. He postponed his final law exams until 1937. He subsequently practiced as a freelance lawyer.

Literary career

After studying medicine August Alle worked in Estonia as a journalist and lecturer, before he is completely devoted himself to writing. From 1919 he was one of the figures association with 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 ...

movement. August Alle was also known as a columnist and literary critic. His literary breakthrough came with his 1921 poem collection ''Carmina Barbata''. His writing was deliberately outrageous, ironic, sarcastic and satirical. He was a master of the epigram and sketches. His pen was sharp and feared in Estonia. He turned particularly against the emerging middle class of the inter-war period. In his works he drew on his experiences in the revolutionary

Petrograd Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

and Tartu in Estonia after 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 westwa ...

. August Alle's poetry turned strongly against the fascist tendencies in Europe of that time. August Alle haud

Soviet collaboration

After 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 in 1940, Alle became an advisor to the Ministry of Education and chairman of a Soviet Commission that drew up lists of books to be banned and removed from libraries. Among the books banned were works of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies explained as originatin ...

Rudolf Steiner Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner (27 or 25 February 1861 – 30 March 1925) was an Austrian occultist, social reformer, architect, esotericist, and claimed clairvoyant. Steiner gained initial recognition at the end of the nineteenth century as a ...

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 ...

Gustav Suits Gustav Suits ( in Võnnu, Tartu County, Livonia – 23 May 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden) is considered one of the greatest Estonian poets.W. K. Matthews, ''The Background and Poetry of Gustav Suits. A Study in Estonian Symbolism'', American Slavi ...

and

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 all, 1552 titles were banned. August Alle belonged to the Board of the Estonian Writers Association. In addition, he was editor at various literary journals. In 1942 he joined the

Communist Party of Estonia The Communist Party of Estonia ( et, Eestimaa Kommunistlik Partei, abbreviated EKP) was a subdivision of the Soviet communist party which in 1920-1940 operated illegally in Estonia and, after the 1940 occupation and annexation of Estonia by the ...

. During the German invasion, he was director of the press department of the Communist Party. From 1946 until his death he was chief editor of the prestigious, though after 1944 Soviet controlled, literary magazine '' Looming'' (Estonian for "creation").

Works

*Üksinduse saartele (1918) *Carmina Barbata (1921) *Laul kleidist helesinisest ja roosast seelikust (1925) *Ummiklained (1930) *Karmid rütmid (1934) *Lilla elevant (1923) *Epigrams (1944)

References

External links

August Alle at Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alle, August 1890 births 1952 deaths Estonian male poets People from Viljandi Burials at Metsakalmistu 20th-century Estonian poets 20th-century male writers University of Tartu alumni Estonian magazine editors Looming (magazine) editors