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 revered figures in Estonian literature and is generally credited as being the country's first professional writer.

Life and career

Vilde grew on the farm where his father worked. In 1883 he began working as a journalist. He spent a great deal of his life traveling abroad and he lived for some time in Berlin in the 1890s, where he was influenced by

materialism Materialism is a form of philosophical monism which holds matter to be the fundamental substance in nature, and all things, including mental states and consciousness, are results of material interactions. According to philosophical materiali ...

and socialism. His writings were also guided by the realism and naturalism of the French writer Émile Zola (1840–1902). In addition to being a prolific writer, he was also an outspoken critic of Tsarist rule and of the German landowners. With the founding of the first Estonian republic in 1919, he served as an ambassador in Berlin for several years, and spent the last years of his life editing and revising an enormous volume of his collected works. After his death in 1933, he became the first person to be interred at Metsakalmistu, in the Pirita district of Tallinn.

Works

Gallery

File:Statues of Wilde and Vilde in Galway.jpg, Statues of

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

and Eduard Vilde in Galway. The original of this sculpture is located in

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 ...

. File:USSR stamp E.Vilde 1965 4k.jpg, Vilde on a Soviet 1965 stamp. File:Kadrioru lossi kastellaani maja.jpg, House in Kadriorg, where Eduard Vilde lived 1927–1933. File:Eduard Vilde haud.jpg, File:MuugaMõisaPark.jpg, Monument of Vilde in Muuga Manor's park File:Eduard Vilde monument in central Tallinn.jpg, Memorial to Vilde in Tallinn.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vilde, Eduard 1865 births 1933 deaths People from Väike-Maarja Parish People from Kreis Wierland Estonian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Members of the Estonian Constituent Assembly Ambassadors of Estonia to Germany Estonian non-fiction writers Estonian male novelists Male non-fiction writers 19th-century Estonian novelists 20th-century Estonian novelists 19th-century male writers 20th-century male writers Recipients of the Military Order of the Cross of the Eagle Burials at Metsakalmistu