Ivan Orav (September 1, 1908 – June 19, 2009) is a fictional character created by

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

Andrus Kivirähk Andrus Kivirähk (born 17 August 1970) is an Estonian writer, a playwright, topical satirist, and screenwriter. As of 2004, 25,000 copies of his novel ''Rehepapp ehk November'' (''Old Barny or November'') had been sold, making him the most popul ...

, who published a book ''"Memoirs of Ivan Orav or the Past as Azure Mountains"'' (''Ivan Orava mälestused, ehk, Minevik kui helesinised mäed'') in 1995. The book mocks popular stereotypes about the

interbellum In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days), the end of the First World War to the beginning of the Second World War. The interwar period was relativel ...

period of Estonian independence. Over time, the character was fleshed out (through publications in ''

Eesti Päevaleht ''Eesti Päevaleht'' ''("Estonia Daily")'' is a major daily Estonian newspaper, from the same publishers as the weekly '' Eesti Ekspress''. It has a daily circulation of around 36,000. History and profile ''Eesti Päevaleht'' was founded on 5 Ju ...

'' newspaper), anticipated and celebrated his 100th anniversary. His biography was finalised in his obituary next year.http://www.epl.ee/artikkel/471767 ("Ivan Orav Has Left")
During 1994 and 1995 a TV series ''Vabariigi valvur'' was aired with

Andrus Vaarik Andrus Vaarik (born 14 May 1958) is an Estonian film, television, and theater actor and theater director. He is best known for his portrayal of Andrus Kivirähk's fictional character Ivan Orav, Raul in the film '' Agent Sinikael'', Osvald Kallas ...

as Ivan Orav. In the summertime of 2004 the Estonian State Archives joined the joke by uncovering and publishing a birth register of the Tõhela-

Murru Murru is a village in Tori Parish, Pärnu County in southwestern 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 Fin ...

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

which said that Ivan Orav and his wife Jelisaveta had daughter Lyudmila. Also, before the coming of the Soviet he changed his name to Jaan in 1939."Ivan Orav sai lapse..." ("Ivan Orav Had a Child...")

Notes and references

Literary characters introduced in 1995 Characters in novels of the 20th century Estonian literature Estonian humour {{novel-char-stub