Jaan Kärner (27 May 1891 – 3 April 1958) was an

Estonian 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

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poet and writer. He is known especially for his nature poetry. Many of his poems were set to music by Estonian composers of choral music. Kärner also wrote numerous novels, plays, works of literary criticism, and scientific literature and historical treatises. He translated works from German and Russian, most notably the poems of

Heinrich Heine Christian Johann Heinrich Heine (; ; born Harry Heine; 13 December 1797 – 17 February 1856) was an outstanding poet, writer, and literary criticism, literary critic of 19th-century German Romanticism. He is best known outside Germany for his ...

into

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in 1934.

Life and work

Jaan Kärner was born the son of a farmer, Kaarel Kärner and his wife Liis Kärner (''née'' Terav). He had one brother, Johannes, and five sisters: Anna Marie, Emilie, Pauline, Ida and Alma and two half-brothers Aleksander and August. He attended Uderna school from 1901 to 1906 (Rõngu). From 1910 Kärner worked in various magazines in Tallinn. 1911/12 and 1914 he studied at the City People's University "AL Schanjawski" in Moscow. From 1917 Kärner was also politically active (first in the Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party, later in the

Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party The Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party (, EISTP) was a political party in Estonia. History The party was formed in 1919 as a split from the Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party, and was joined by defectors from the Estonian Social ...

) and in 1919 became editor of the trade union newspaper ''Töö hääl'' (''Labor Voice''). In 1919 he was elected to the Estonian Constituent Assembly. Beginning in the early 1920s, Kärner worked as a freelance writer. From 1927 to 1929 he worked as an editor at the magazine ''

Looming ''Looming'' is a term found in the study of perception, as it relates directly to psychology. Looming occurs when an object begins moving closer to the eye. As the resulting image becomes increasingly larger on the perceiver's retina, i.e., when ...

'', and from 1936 to 1938 as an editor for the magazine '' Tänapäev''. A left-winger, he supported the 1940 Communist seizure of power in Estonia. During the

German occupation of Estonia during World War II In the course of Operation Barbarossa, Nazi Germany invaded Estonia in July–December 1941, and occupied the country until 1944. Estonia had gained Estonian War of Independence, independence in 1918 from the then-warring German Empire, German ...

Kärner lived in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. With the re-incorporation of Estonia into the Soviet Union in 1944, he returned to his homeland and worked in publishing as an editor at various newspapers and magazines. In 1946, Kärner descended into insanityCornelius Hasselblatt, ''History of Estonian literature'', Berlin, New York 2006 (), p. 442 and died in 1958 in Tartu. He had one son, Ülo Kärner (born 1915–1941), through the marriage of his first wife Ida Kärner (''née'' Kull) and two daughters, Eha (1919–1976) and Elo (1925–1991), with his second wife Hilda Anna Luise Kärner (''née'' Luberg).

Works (selection)

Poetry collections

* ''Aja laulud'' (1921) * ''Lõikuskuu'' (1925) * ''Õitsev sügis'' (1926) * ''Inimene ristteel'' (1932) * ''Sõna-sütega'' (1936) * ''Käidud teedelt'' (1939) * ''Kodumaa käsk'' (1942) * ''Viha, ainult viha'' (1944)

Romantic verse

* ''Bianka ja Ruth'' (1923)

Fiction

* ''Naine vaesest maailmast'' (1930) * ''Soodoma kroonika'' (1934) * ''Tõusev rahvas'' (2 volumes, 1936/1937) * ''Pidu kestab'' (1938)

References

External links

* 1891 births 1958 deaths People from Elva Parish People from Kreis Dorpat Estonian Socialist Revolutionary Party politicians Estonian Independent Socialist Workers' Party politicians Members of the Estonian Provincial Assembly Members of the Estonian Constituent Assembly 20th-century Estonian poets Estonian male poets 20th-century Estonian male writers Looming (magazine) editors Estonian magazine editors Honoured Writers of the Estonian SSR {{Estonia-writer-stub