Ivar Grünthal (8 April 1924 – 14 February 1996) was an

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

n writer.

Biography

His parents were lawyers Vera Poska-Grünthal and Timotheus Grünthal. His grandfather was statesman Jaan Poska. From 1932 to 1941 he studied at Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

. In 1942 he started his schooling at

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

(studying medicine), but in 1943 he was transferred to

Helsinki University The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Tsar Al ...

. In 1944 he joined the

Finnish Infantry Regiment 200 Infantry Regiment 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 against the Soviet Union in the ranks of the Finnish army instead of th ...

. After the war he lived in Sweden. He was the founder and chief editor (1957–1965) of the magazine ''

Mana Mana may refer to: Religion and mythology * Mana (Oceanian cultures), the spiritual life force energy or healing power that permeates the universe in Melanesian and Polynesian mythology * Mana (food), archaic name for manna, an edible substance m ...

''. He was a member of Estonian Writers' Union Abroad, and Estonian PEN Club. He was the acting minister of social affairs of the

Estonian government-in-exile The Estonian government-in-exile was the formally declared governmental authority of the Republic of Estonia in exile, existing from 1944 until the reestablishment of Estonian sovereignty over Estonian territory in 1991. It traced its legitimac ...

Selected works

* 1954: poetry collection ''Must pühapäev'' ('Black Sunday') * 1960: poetry collection ''Lumi ja lubi'' ('Snow and Lime') * 1962: verse novel ''Peetri kiriku kellad'' ('The Bells of St. Peter's Church')

References

1924 births 1996 deaths Estonian male poets Estonian editors Estonian translators Estonian magazine editors 20th-century Estonian poets Estonian volunteers in the Continuation War Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni Writers from Tartu Estonian emigrants to Sweden {{Estonia-writer-stub