Otto Wilhelm Masing ( in Lohusuu,

Kreis Dorpat Kreis Dorpat (''Tartu kreis'', ''Дерптский уезд'', 1893-1918 ''Юрьевский уезд'') was one of the nine subdivisions of the Governorate of Livonia of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the northeastern part of the gover ...

Livland Governorate The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

– in

Äksi Äksi is a small borough ( et, alevik) in Tartu Parish, Tartu County in Estonia. It is located on the southern shore of Lake Saadjärv, and has a population of 477 (as of 1 January 2010). The Ice Age Centre, a museum about the latest ice age ...

, Livland Governorate) was an early

Baltic German Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...

Estophile Estophilia (from Greek: φίλος, ''filos'' - "dear, loving") refers to the ideas and activities of people not of Estonian descent who are sympathetic to or interested in Estonian language, Estonian literature or Estonian culture, the history ...

and a major advocate of peasant rights, especially regarding education.

Life

He received schooling at the town school of

Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...

(1777–1779) and then (1779–1782) at the Gymnasium of

Torgau Torgau () is a town on the banks of the Elbe in northwestern Saxony, Germany. It is the capital of the district Nordsachsen. Outside Germany, the town is best known as where on 25 April 1945, the United States and Soviet Armies forces first ...

(

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) before studying

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

and

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

at the

University of Halle Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (german: Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg), also referred to as MLU, is a public, research-oriented university in the cities of Halle and Wittenberg and the largest and oldest university i ...

, returning to

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 ...

in 1786. In 1796 he married Dorothea Amalie Ehlertz (1776–1809) in

St. John's Church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...

Dorpat Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern Europe, Northern Europe, European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres ...

(Tartu), a daughter of the

city councillor A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural council ...

Carl Ulrich Ehlertz (1739–1790) and his wife Louisa Dorothea née Stockenberg (1755–1803), a great-granddaughter of the sculptor Johann Gustav Stockenberg.

Work

Aksi Andrease kirik 20150510-124201 3X4 panoraam

His first employment after concluding his studies was as private tutor at the Manor in Neu-Isenhof (Püssi) for the children of the nobleman Otto Magnus von Toll. In 1788 he became the pastor of the (Lutheran) church in Lüg (Lüganuse) (1788–1795), then serving from 1795 in Maholm (Viru-Nigula) (1795–1815) and from 1815 in Ecks (Äksi), where he remained as pastor until his death. From 1818 he also took on the post of assessor of the

consistory Consistory is the anglicized form of the consistorium, a council of the closest advisors of the Roman emperors. It can also refer to: *A papal consistory, a formal meeting of the Sacred College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church *Consistory ...

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

and from 1821 onwards he was also Provost for

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...

Contributions as publicist and linguist

In 1795, Masing compiled and published a children's textbook for learning reading, the '' ABD''. (The letter 'C' does not appear in

Estonian words Estonian vocabulary, i.e., the vocabulary of the Estonian language, was influenced by many other language groups. Germanic languages The heaviest external contribution, nearly one third of the vocabulary, comes from Germanic languages, mainly fro ...

, and back then, was not considered a member of

Estonian alphabet 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 * ...

. This considered, the title could be translated as "ABC.") He published a further textbook with methodical reading instructions, the ''Luggemislehhed'', in 1821. From 1821 to 1823, Masing published a newsletter ''Marahva Näddala-Leht'' ( Estonian for ''Peasant's Weekly''), one of the earliest regular publications in the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language, written in the Latin script. It is the official language of Estonia and one of the official languages of the European Union, spoken natively by about 1.1 million people; 922,000 people in Estonia and 160,0 ...

. Among other linguistic contributions, Masing is credited with creating the letter ' õ' to denote an Estonian phoneme not found in other related languages.

Honours

* Imperial Russian

Order of Saint Vladimir The Imperial Order of Saint Prince Vladimir (russian: орден Святого Владимира) was an Imperial Russian order established on by Empress Catherine II in memory of the deeds of Saint Vladimir, the Grand Prince and the Baptize ...

, 4th class (awarded 1821)

External links

* Estonica
1710–1850. The Baltic Landesstaat. Emergence of national consciousness and Estophilia

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Masing, Otto Wilhelm Linguists from Estonia Estonian Lutheran clergy Estophiles Recipients of the Order of St. Vladimir, 4th class 1763 births 1832 deaths 18th-century Estonian people 19th-century Estonian people Baltic-German people Burials at Raadi cemetery