Gert Helbemäe (birth name Gert-Joachim Einborn; 10 November 1913
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...
– 15 July 1974
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
) 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 and journalist. He is known mainly for his
historical novel
Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...
s and
short stories
A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...
.
From 1921 to 1933 he studied in
Tallinn French Lyceum
Tallinn French School or Tallinn French Lyceum (), is a co-educational comprehensive secondary school in Tallinn, Estonia. It offers primary (years 1-9) and secondary education (years 10-12). Students perform consistently well in national exams, ...
.
In 1930s he was an executive editor for several newspapers and magazines: ''Eesti Pildileht'', ''Roheline Post'', and ''Film ja Elu''.
In 1944, he fled to
Lübeck
Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...
in Germany. In 1947 he moved to
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, and he applied for naturalization in 1952. In London, he issued the newspaper '' Eesti Hääl'', and from 1960 he was also its editor. He also belonged to the board of the Estonian Writers' Cooperative.
He kept pet chipmunks, which are featured in his 1968 work ''Minni ja Miku: Kaks vöötoravat'' (published in English as ''A Chipmunk on my Shoulder'').
He is buried at
Gunnersbury Cemetery
Gunnersbury Cemetery, also known as Kensington or New Kensington Cemetery, is a cemetery opened in 1929. Although it is owned and managed by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea,
Works
* 1947: short story collection ''Vaikija'' (The Silent One)
* 1955: novel ''Õekesed'' (The Little Sisters)
* 1957–1958: novel '' Sellest mustast mungast'' I and II (About that Black Monk, I and II)
* 1960: novel '' Ohvrilaev'' (The Ship to Delos)
* 1968: ''Minni ja Miku: Kaks vöötoravat'' (published in English as ''A Chipmunk on my Shoulder'')