''Mahtra sõda'' (The Mahtra War) is a 1902 novel by
Eduard Vilde
Eduard Vilde ( – 26 December 1933) was an Estonian writer, a pioneer of critical realism in Estonian literature, and a diplomat. Author of classics such as ''The War in Mahtra'' and ''The Milkman from Mäeküla''. He was one of the most revere ...
.
It is the first part of a trilogy of historical novels about the peasant movements of the 1900s. The second work of the trilogy is ''
Kui Anija mehed Tallinnas käisid Kui may refer to:
People
*Kui people, a Mon-Khmer ethnic minority
*Kui Lee, a singer-songwriter
People with the surname Kui (奎)
*Kui Yuanyuan, a Chinese gymnast
Places
*Kui, Hiroshima, a Japanese town
* Kawau Island Airport, IATA code KUI, on ...
'' (When Anija's Men Went to Tallinn, 1903), and the third part is ''
Prohvet Maltsvet'' (Prophet Maltsvet, 1905–1908).
The novel is about the peasant insurgency known as the
Mahtra War
Mahtra War ( et, Mahtra sõda) was a peasant insurgency at the Mahtra estate (now in Rapla County, 60 km from Tallinn) in Estonia, in the then Russian Empire in May–July 1858.
The revolt was suppressed using the regular army, 14 peasants w ...
. The uprising took place from May to July 1858 at Mahtra Manor in the former
Juuru Parish
Juuru Parish ( et, Juuru vald) is a former Estonian municipality located in Rapla County. It had a population of 1,627 (as of 31 March 2006) and an area of 152.4 km².
In 2017, Juuru Parish was merged into Rapla Parish.
Settlements
Juuru P ...
.
Writing and publication
Vilde engaged in extensive research before writing the novel, working through historical works and archival sources. In addition, he used the manuscript memoires of Hans Tertsius and the reminiscences of people recorded in
Juuru. The novel was first published in ''
Teataja
''Teataja'' was an Estonian-language daily newspaper published in 1901–1905 in Tallinn (Reval), Estonia (then part of the former Russian Empire).
The politically leftist ("social democratic") newspaper was founded in 1901 by Konstantin Päts ...
'' as a story in installments for almost five months in 1902. It was mostly written during the nighttime hours because during the day Vilde was busy with editorial work. "The printing house's courier would take the next installment of the manuscript, to be published that evening, from me early in the morning, and the last lines were often still wet," the author later recalled.
''Mahtra sõda'' was first published in book form in 1902 by J. H. Wahtrik 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 ' ...
.
The novel has been reprinted 13 times, most recently in 2009 in the ''Eesti lugu'' (Estonian Story) book series published by ''
Eesti Päevaleht''.
The novel has been translated into Russian, Latvian, Hungarian, German, Finnish, Ukrainian, and Esperanto.
Adaptations and events
The feature film ''Mahtra sõda'', with a screenplay written and repeatedly revised by
Paul Rummo
Paul Rummo (14 July 1909 Kalbu, Kehtna Parish, Harju County – 28 March 1981) was an Estonian poet, playwright and literary critic.
1948–1949, he was the chief editor for the publishing house Ilukirjandus ja Kunst ('Fiction and Art'). Before ...
from 1955 to 1958, was planned by
Tallinnfilm with a premiere scheduled for mid-summer 1959. However, production of the film was halted due to censorship.
On May 30 and 31, 2008, to mark the 150th anniversary of the Mahtra War, the entire novel was recited without pausing in front of the
Atla-Eeru Inn in Juuru. The readers included various actors (
Elle Kull,
Tõnu Aav
Tõnu Aav (21 January 1939 – 14 August 2019) was an Estonians, Estonian stage, film, TV, and radio actor.
Aav was born in Tallinn and graduated from the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre in 1961. From 1961 he performed at the Estonian Drama ...
, etc.) and 90 other readers of various ages and from various places. The reading was directed by
Ago-Endrik Kerge
Ago-Endrik Kerge (also Endrik Kerge; 8 April 1939 Tallinn – 25 April 2021) was an Estonian dancer, ballet master, director and actor.
In 1959 he graduated from Tallinn Choreographic School. In 1976 he graduated from Tallinn State Conservatory S ...
, the artist
Liina Pihlak, and the composer and actress
Viive Ernesaks.
References
Estonian novels
Novels set in Estonia
1902 novels
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