Karl Ast (pseudonym: Karl Rumor, 19 February 1886, Orava – 9 July 1971,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

) 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 and politician.Arvo Mägi, ''Estonian literature: an outline'', Baltic Humanitarian Association, 1968

Life

Ast's older brother,

Gottlieb Ast Gottlieb Jaan Ast (2 March 1874 – 15 December 1919) was an Estonian politician who was the mayor of Tallinn from June to July 1919. Ast graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu in 1906. Afterwards, he became involved in p ...

, was the mayor of

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 '' ...

in 1919. Karl attended the renowned

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 ...

in Tartu. Ast supported the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

and was imprisoned in Riga for a period from 1907 to 1910 as a result of his criticism of the authoritarian regime of the

Tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

. He participated in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in the

Russian Imperial Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. With the attainment of independence of the Republic of Estonia, Karl Ast entered politics. He was a member of the

Estonian Constituent Assembly The Estonian Constituent Assembly ( et, Asutav Kogu) was elected on 5–7 April 1919, called by the Estonian Provisional Government during the Estonian War of Independence. Estonian Constituent Assembly elections Activity The 120 members of t ...

in 1919. From 1919 to 1933 he was a member of the Estonian Parliament (

Riigikogu The Riigikogu (; from Estonian ''riigi-'', of the state, and ''kogu'', assembly) is the unicameral parliament of Estonia. In addition to approving legislation, the Parliament appoints high officials, including the Prime Minister and Chief Just ...

). Between 1933 and 1939 he traveled the world (including the capitals of Europe, North Africa, India, Japan, China) and had written numerous travel accounts and reports. In 1939 he was Estonian press attaché in Sweden. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, Karl Ast emigrated from Europe, settling in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, then in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and eventually in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

He served with 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 and 1992. It traced its l ...

until 1959.

Literary work

Karl Ast's literary debut came in 1911, shortly after his release from Tzarist imprisonment with the short story collection (The mosquitoes in the storm). In 1923/24 he was chairman of the

Estonian Writers' Union The Estonian Writers Union (Eesti Kirjanike Liit, abbreviated EKL), is a professional association of Estonian writers and literary critics.Marje Jõeste, Küllo Arjakas, ''The Baltic States'', Estonian Encyclopaedia Publishers, 1991, page 64 Hist ...

. In addition to numerous short stories he wrote a novel (Krutsifiks, 1960), two volumes of memoirs and numerous travel books. His short stories made him one of the most popular exile writers of his time.

Main works

* (1911, short stories and sketches) * (1913, prose poem) * (1913, short stories) * (1920, under the pseudonym Kaarlo Orawa) * (1921, short stories) * (1926, short stories) * (1928, short stories) * (1928, romantic drama) * (1929, erotic short stories) * (1930/31, travel reports) * (1936, travelogue) * (1943, a political treatise) * (1953, short stories) * (1959, short stories) * (1960, novel) * (1962, short stories) * (1963–65, memories, 2 volumes) * (1971, short stories) * (1991, short stories) * (1995, story) * (2007, essays, edited by

Hando Runnel Hando Runnel (born on 24 November 1938 Liutsalu, Järva County) is 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 ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ast, Karl 1886 births 1971 deaths People from Võru Parish People from Kreis Werro Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Estonian Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Estonian Provincial Assembly Members of the Estonian Constituent Assembly Members of the Riigikogu, 1920–1923 Members of the Riigikogu, 1923–1926 Members of the Riigikogu, 1926–1929 Members of the Riigikogu, 1929–1932 Members of the Riigikogu, 1932–1934 Estonian male poets Estonian male short story writers 20th-century Estonian poets 21st-century Estonian writers Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni Russian military personnel of World War I Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to the United States