Anton Hansen (18 (O.S.)/30 January 1878 – 1 March 1940), better known by his

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

A. H. Tammsaare and its variants, 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

...

writer whose pentalogy '' Truth and Justice'' (''Tõde ja õigus''; 1926–1933) is considered one of the major works of

Estonian literature Estonian literature () is literature written in the Estonian language (c. 1,100,000 speakers) The oldest records of written Estonian date from the 13th century. ''Originates Livoniae'' in Chronicle of Henry of Livonia contains Estonian place n ...

and "The Estonian Novel".A. H. Tammsaare. L. Siimisker, A. Palm. Eesti Raamat. Tallinn 1978. Pg. 64

Biography

Tammsaare was born in Järvamaa, in the municipality of Albu, village of Vetepere,

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 ...

. The son of a farmer, he came from a poor background but managed to collect enough money for his education. His family was quite enlightened for the time, with his father ordering newspapers, which was something most Estonian farmers didn't do. He studied in

Väike-Maarja Väike-Maarja () is a Populated places in Estonia, small borough () in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Väike-Maarja Parish. The population of Väike-Maarja in January 2023 was 2,155 people. Väike-Maarja Chu ...

and

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

at the Hugo Treffner Gymnasium, and afterward at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

where he studied law. Tammsaare's studies were interrupted by

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

in 1911. He spent over a year in a sanatorium in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

– where his memorial house is open to the public – and the following six years in his brother's farm in Koitjärve, Estonia (now part of

Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve () is a Protected areas of Estonia, protected area in Harju County, Northern Estonia, some 50 km east of Tallinn. With an area of 130.9 km2, it is the third largest List of protected areas of Estonia, na ...

), reading works of

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his no ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

and

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

. His younger sister, Maria Hansen, was the mother of Tammsaare's nephew, actor Arno Suurorg. In 1918, when Estonia became independent, Tammsaare moved to

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 ...

. It was here that Tammsaare wrote prose works based on the history and lives of the

...

people that gained him a prominent place in Estonian literature. Tammsaare was interested in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. His novels reflect the ideas of

Bergson Henri-Louis Bergson (; ; 18 October 1859 – 4 January 1941) was a French philosopher who was influential in the traditions of analytic philosophy and continental philosophy, especially during the first half of the 20th century until the S ...

Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a c ...

and

Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies seen as originating from conflicts in t ...

. He was, however, skeptical about cosmopolitanism. "European culture" he wrote, "is something to be overcome if one wishes to see the triumph of love, justice, and humanity spoken of so glibly". Like

Carl Robert Jakobson Carl Robert Jakobson ( – ) was an Estonian writer, politician and teacher active in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. He was one of the most important persons of the Estonian national awakening in the second half of the 19th centur ...

and

Jaan Tõnisson Jaan Tõnisson ( – 1941?) was an Estonian statesman, serving as the Prime Minister of Estonia twice during 1919 to 1920, as State Elder (head of state and government) from 1927 to 1928 and in 1933, and as Foreign Minister of Estonia from 19 ...

's ''Tartu Renaissance'' group, he believed that Estonian culture was best served by farmers and intellectuals from rural backgrounds. His work was influenced at various stages by

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

Knut Hamsun Knut Hamsun (4 August 1859 – 19 February 1952) was a Norwegian writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1920. Hamsun's work spans more than 70 years and shows variation with regard to conscio ...

and

André Gide André Paul Guillaume Gide (; 22 November 1869 – 19 February 1951) was a French writer and author whose writings spanned a wide variety of styles and topics. He was awarded the 1947 Nobel Prize in Literature. Gide's career ranged from his begi ...

, but, above all, the Russian realists. "In the whole of world literature," said Tammsaare, I have never read anything to compare to the Russians... there is no one to compare to

Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...

Dostoevsky Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist and journalist. He is regarded as one of the greatest novelists in both Russian and world literature, and many of his works are considered highly influenti ...

Gogol Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol; ; (; () was a Russian novelist, short story writer, and playwright of Ukrainian origin. Gogol used the grotesque in his writings, for example, in his works " The Nose", " Viy", "The Overcoat", and " Nevsky Prosp ...

"... Dostoevsky "really disturbed me: I lived in a waking dream under his influence. I was especially gripped by ''Crime and Punishment''.

Bibliography

Tammsaare's early works are characterized by rural "poetic" realism. Some of his stories also reflect the atmosphere of the revolutionary year of 1905. During what is sometimes classified as his second period, from 1908 to 1919, he wrote several short urban novels and collections of miniatures. In "Poiss ja liblikas" (1915, ''The Boy and the Butterfly''), Tammsaare shows the influence of

. Internationally best known is his last novel, ''

Devil with a False Passport ''Põrgupõhja uus Vanapagan'' (''The New Devil of Hellsbottom'', English release title: ''Devil with a False Passport'') is a 1964 Estonian film directed by Grigori Kromanov and Jüri Müür, and based on the 1939 novel of the same name by A. ...

'' ("Põrgupõhja uus Vanapagan"). ''Truth and Justice'' comprises five volumes, which have no individual titles (some were added in translation). Since vol. 3 contains a description about the

Russian Revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, which is not informed by

ideology An ideology is a set of beliefs or values attributed to a person or group of persons, especially those held for reasons that are not purely about belief in certain knowledge, in which "practical elements are as prominent as theoretical ones". Form ...

but by an

existential Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...

attention to individual suffering, it was often combined with vol. 2 by Soviet censorship. Even today, the third volume is sometimes called "artistically inferior", although the description of the revolution is on par with similar scenes in Pasternak's '' Doctor Zhivago''. In Estonia, the second volume, with its

educational scenes, is today probably the most enjoyed. International critics would probably opt for vol. 1 as the strongest overall; it is a classical peasant novel reminiscent of Hamsun which is also generally held to be the most telling one about "the Estonian character", embodied especially in two antagonistic farmer figures Andres and Pearu. Tammsaare himself said later that the different volumes deal with the relation of Man (i.e., the human person) to (1) the land, (2)

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

, (3)

State State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and society, (4) him- or herself and (5) resignation. ''Truth and Justice'' was not translated into English until 2014, whe
Haute Culture Books
published the first volume of the saga under the name

. There are two complete translations into German and one each into French, Latvian, and Czech. Volume 1 has also been translated into Finnish, Polish, and Hungarian (with the title, ''Orcád verítékével'').

Selected works

* 1902: ''Kaks paari ja üksainus'' (Two Pairs and the One) * 1903: ''Vanad ja noored'' (Old Ones and Young Ones) * 1907: ''Raha-auk'' (The Money-Hole) * 1907: ''Uurimisel'' (Be in Prospect) * 1908: ''Pikad sammud'' (Long Steps) * 1909: ''Noored hinged'' (Young Spirits) * 1910: ''Üle piiri'' (Over the Border) * 1915: ''Kärbes'' (The Fly) * 1915: ''Keelest ja luulest'' (About Language and Poetry) * 1915: ''Poiss ja liblikas'' (The Boy and the Butterfly) * 1917: ''Varjundid'' (The Shapes of the Shadows) * 1919: ''Sõjamõtted'' (Thoughts of War) * 1921: ''Juudit'' (Judith) * 1922: ''

Kõrboja peremees '' Kõrboja peremees'' (''The Master of Kõrboja'') is a novel by Estonian author A. H. Tammsaare. It was first published in 1922. Based on the novel, a feature film with the same name was released in 1979 by Tallinnfilm. The film was directe ...

'' (The Master of Kõrboja) * 1923: ''Pöialpoiss'' (The Midget) * 1924: ''Sic Transit'' * 1926–1933: '' Tõde ja õigus'' I–V (Truth and Justice, vols. 1–5) * 1932: ''Meie rebane'' (Our Fox) * 1934: ''Elu ja armastus'' (The Life and the Love) * 1935: ''Ma armastasin sakslast'' (I Loved a German) * 1936: ''Kuningal on külm'' (The King Is Cold) * 1938: ''Hiina ja hiinlane'' (China and a Chinese) * 1939: ''Põrgupõhja uus Vanapagan'' (The Misadventures of the New Satan / Devil with a False Passport; literally, The New Devil of Hellsbottom) * 1977: ''Miniatures'' * 1977–1993: ''Kogutud teosed'', 18 vols. (Collected Works)

References

External links

Who is A.H.Tammsaare?

Tammsaare Museum in Kadriorg

- shows the 25- Kroon banknote, with its depiction of Tammsaare and his farm {{DEFAULTSORT:Tammsaare, A. H. 1878 births 1940 deaths People from Järva Parish People from Kreis Jerwen Estonian male novelists 20th-century Estonian novelists 20th-century Estonian male writers Hugo Treffner Gymnasium alumni University of Tartu alumni Burials at Metsakalmistu