Mihkel Raud (born 18 January 1969) is an Estonian writer,

music artist A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, actor, and a former member of the Estonian parliament. He is best known for his book ''Musta pori näkku'' and as a former host of an Estonian talk show on TV3.

Personal life

Mihkel Raud was born the middle of three siblings to children's authors

Eno Raud Eno Raud (15 February 1928 – 10 July 1996) was an Estonian children's writer. His works are considered classics in Estonia as well as in the other former Soviet countries. Raud was included in International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY ...

and Aino Raud (''née'' Pervik). His grandfather was playwright, poet and writer Mart Raud. His older brother is scholar and author

Rein Raud Rein Raud (born 21 December 1961) is an Estonian scholar and author. Early life He was born in 1961 in the family of Eno Raud and Aino Pervik, both children's authors. He is the eldest of three children. His younger brother Mihkel Raud is a ...

and his younger sister is artist

Piret Raud Piret Raud (born 15 July 1971) is a contemporary Estonian author and illustrator. Biography Piret Raud was born 15 July 1971. She is the daughter of Estonian children's authors Eno Raud and Aino Pervik. Her brothers are scholar and author Rei ...

Career

Mihkel Raud began his career as a child actor. In 1981, he played the role of Tõnn in the Helle Murdmaa-directed musical-family feature film '' Nukitsamees'', based on the 1920 children's story of the same name by

Oskar Luts Oskar Luts ( – 23 March 1953) was an Estonian writer and playwright. Biography Oskar Luts was born into a middle-class family in Järvepera, central Estonia, at that time in the governorate of Livonia (Russian Empire). His younger brother was ...

. The same year, he appeared as Riho in the

Raivo Trass Raivo Trass (12 March 1946 – 7 June 2022) was an Estonian actor, director and theatrical pedagogue. Career Trass graduated from the Tallinn State Conservatory's Performing Arts Department in 1968. From 1968 until 1977, he was an actor at Estoni ...

-directed television film ''Keskpäev'', based on the 1972 trilogy ''Lugu lendavate taldrikutega'' penned by his father. In addition to his interest in literature and music, Raud was a member in 2015, of the Cultural Affairs Committee and European Union Affairs Committee of

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 Jus ...

, the Estonian parliament. On 7 June 2016, Raud announced that he would leave politics and focus on his TV3 talkshow. Raud was also host of the Estonian TV show ''Seitse Vaprat'' aired on

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) ( en, Estonian Television) is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Televisi ...

, the local weekly talk show on TV3, a contributor to the local radio industry and member of the Board of the

Estonian Public Broadcasting Estonian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Estonia, a country in the Baltic region in northern Europe * Estonians, people from Estonia, or of Estonian descent * Estonian language * Estonian cuisine * Estonian culture See also * ...

. Recently, he has been member of the jury of ''

Eesti otsib superstaari ''Eesti otsib superstaari'' ''(Estonia is Searching for a Superstar)'' is an Estonian reality-competition gameshow airing on TV3. It debuted on 11 March 2007 and it has since become one of the most popular shows in Estonia. Part of the Idol ...

'', a local version of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

''.

Writing

During his career, Raud published ''How To Build A Music Web Site That Sells'' in 2003 and later in 2008, an autobiography titled ''Musta pori näkku'' (Black Dirt in Your Face). Then, in 2010, he wrote a novel titled ''Sinine on sinu taevas'' (Blue is Your Sky). Later in 2012, Raud wrote a

stage play A play is a work of drama, usually consisting mostly of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and intended for theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Reading (process), reading. The writer of a play is called a playwright. Pla ...

titled ''American Monkey'' performed worldwide including in the United States,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and Russia.

Music

Raud is best known in Estonia as a musician who played as a guitarist, a Singer-songwriter in several local bands including

Golem A golem ( ; he, , gōlem) is an animated, anthropomorphic being in Jewish folklore, which is entirely created from inanimate matter (usually clay or mud). The most famous golem narrative involves Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the late 16th-century ...

, Metallist, Ba-Bach, Singer Vinger, Mr. Lawrence, and

Lenna Lenna (or Lena) is a standard test image used in the field of image processing since 1973. It is a picture of the Swedish model Lena Forsén, shot by photographer Dwight Hooker, cropped from the centerfold of the November 1972 issue of ''Playbo ...

. In 2002, he produced a medieval

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

tribute album ''Sabbatum'', a collection of classic Sabbath tracks performed Latin by medieval music band Rondellus.

References

External links

Mihkel Raud
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raud, Mihkel 1969 births Living people Estonian male writers Estonian guitarists People from Tallinn Musicians from Tallinn Social Democratic Party (Estonia) politicians Politicians from Tallinn Writers from Tallinn Estonian male child actors Estonian male television actors Estonian male film actors 20th-century Estonian male singers 21st-century Estonian male singers Members of the Riigikogu, 2015–2019