Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald ( – ) was an Estonian writer who is considered to be the father of the national literature for the country. He is the author of Estonian national epic ''

Kalevipoeg ''Kalevipoeg'' (, ''Kalev's Son'') is a 19th century Epic poetry, epic poem by Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald which has since been considered the Estonian national epic. Origins In pre-Christian ancient Estonia there existed an oral tradition ...

''.

Life

Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's parents were serfs at the Jömper estate,

Governorate of Estonia The Governorate of Estonia, also known as the Governorate of Esthonia (Pre-reformed rus, Эстля́ндская губе́рнія, r=Estlyandskaya guberniya); et, Eestimaa kubermang was a governorate in the Baltic region, along with the ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(in present-day Jõepere, Lääne-Viru County). His father Juhan worked as a shoemaker and granary keeper and his mother Anne was a chambermaid. After liberation from serfdom in 1815, the family was able to send their son to school at the Wesenberg (present-day Rakvere) district school. In 1820, he graduated from secondary school in

Dorpat 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 ...

(present-day Tartu,

Tartu County Tartu County ( et, Tartu maakond or ''Tartumaa'') is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in eastern Estonia bordering Põlva County, Valga County, Viljandi County and Jõgeva County. The area of Tartu County is , which covers 6.9% ...

, Estonia) and worked as an elementary school teacher. In 1833, Kreutzwald graduated from the Faculty of Medicine at the Imperial University of Dorpat. Kreutzwald married Marie Elisabeth Saedler on 18 August the same year. From 1833 to 1877, he worked as the municipal physician in Werro (present-day Võru). He was the member of numerous

scientific societies A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership may ...

in Europe and received honorary doctorates from a number of universities.

Works

Kreutzwald is the author of several moralistic folk books, most of them translated into German: ''Plague of Wine'' 1840, ''The World and Some Things One Can Find in It'' 1848–49, ''

Reynard the Fox Reynard the Fox is a literary cycle of medieval allegorical Dutch, English, French and German fables. The first extant versions of the cycle date from the second half of the 12th century. The genre was popular throughout the Late Middle Ages, a ...

'' 1850, and '' Wise Men of Gotham'' 1857. In addition to these works, he composed the national epic ''

'' (Kalev's Son), using material initially gathered by his friend Friedrich Robert Faehlmann;T. Miljan ed., ''Historical Dictionary of Estonia'' (2004) p. 236 and wrote many other works based on Estonian folklore, such as ''Old Estonian Fairy-Tales'' (1866), collections of verses, and the poem ''

Lembitu Lembitu (Estonian also: Lembit, died 21 September 1217) was an ancient Estonian senior (elder) from Sakala County and military leader in the struggle against conquest of the Estonian lands by the German Livonian Brothers of the Sword at the ...

'' (1885), published after his death. Kreutzwald is considered to be the author of the first original Estonian book. He was one of the leaders of the national awakening, as well as a

paragon Paragon may refer to: Places *Paragon, Indiana, a town in the United States * Paragon, Nebraska, former community in the United States *The Paragon, Bath, a Georgian street in the Walcot area of Bath * The Paragon, Blackheath, London, built by Mi ...

and encourager of young Estonian-speaking intellectuals.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kreutzwald, Friedrich Reinhold 1803 births 1882 deaths People from Kadrina Parish People from the Governorate of Estonia Estonian physicians Estonian male poets Epic poets Collectors of fairy tales Estonian folk-song collectors 19th-century Estonian painters 19th-century Estonian male artists 19th-century Estonian poets 19th-century male writers Burials at Raadi cemetery Physicians from the Russian Empire 19th-century musicologists

Life

Works

See also

References

External links