Artur Adson ( – 5 January 1977) was an

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 ...

n poet, writer and theatre critic.

Early years

Artur Adson (born Karl Arthur Adson) was born in

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 ...

and attended school in Tartu,

Sänna Sänna (, ) is a village in Rõuge Parish, Võru County in southeastern Estonia. As of the 2011 census, the settlement's population was 55. Poet and writer Artur Adson (1889–1977) grew up in Sänna village. Writer Juhan Jaik was born in Sä ...

and

Võru Võru (; ; ) is a town and a municipality in south-eastern Estonia. It is the capital of Võru County and the centre of Võru Parish. History Võru was founded on 21 August 1784, at the request of the Empress Catherine II of Russia, by the o ...

. After graduating he first studied

surveying Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of Point (geom ...

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

. In 1925–26, he studied literature 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.

. Artur Adson was a surveyor, journalist and theater critic in Estonia and Russia. He met his future wife

Marie Under Marie Under ( – 25 September 1980) was an Estonian poet. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 14 separate years. Early life Marie Under was born on 27 March 1883 in Reval (Tallinn), Estonia to school teachers Fri ...

in 1913, and they married in 1927.

Literary career

From 1917 Artur Adson was a member of the Siuru literary movement, which exerted great influence on the Estonian literature. Later Adson was also active in the Tarapita movement. In addition, Adson was one of the most outstanding poets in the

Võro language Võro ( ; , ) is a South Estonian language. It has its own literary standard and efforts have been undertaken to seek official recognition as an indigenous regional language of Estonia. Võro has roughly 75,000 speakers (Võros), mos ...

of southern Estonia. As an often conservative theatrical and literary critic, he exercised influence on the cultural scene of the Republic of Estonia. Adson was also a translator. Among others, he translated

Dr. Zhivago ''Doctor Zhivago'' is the title of a novel by Boris Pasternak and its various adaptations. Description The story, in all of its forms, describes the life of the fictional Russian physician and poet Yuri Zhivago and deals with love and loss during ...

into

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

...

Exile

With the

Soviet occupation During World War II, the Soviet Union occupied and annexed several countries effectively handed over by Nazi Germany in the secret Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of 1939. These included the eastern regions of Poland (incorporated into three differe ...

of Estonia Artur Adson and his wife fled into exile to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. There, he found employment as an archivist. Both continued their interest in the Estonian literature. Adson died in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, aged 87. Both Adson and Under are interred at the

Skogskyrkogården (; ) is a cemetery located in the Gamla Enskede district south of central Stockholm, Sweden. It was inaugurated in 1920 and was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1994. Its design, by Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz, reflects th ...

cemetery in Stockholm.

Poetry collections

*''Henge palangoq'' (1917) *''Vana laterna'' (1919) *''Roosikrants'' (1920) *''Kaduvik'' (1927) *''Katai, kibuvits nink kivi'' (1928) *''Pärlijõgi'' (1931) *''Lehekülg ajaraamatust'' (1937) *''Värsivakk'' (selected, compiled and foreword by Ivar Grünthal; 1959) *''Rahumäe kannel'' (1973) *''Luuletused'' (compiled by Oskar Kruus; 1990)

Plays

*''Toomapäev'' (1928) *''Neli kuningat'' (1931) *''Lauluisa ja Kirjaneitsi'' (1930) *''Kolmas tee'' (penned under the pseudonym Peeter Bollmann; 1932) *''Iluduskuninganna'' (1933) *''Elav kapital'' (1934) *''Karu läheb mee lõksu'' (1936) *''Üks tuvi lendab merele'' (1937)

Memoirs

*''Käsikivi'' (1922) *''Neli veskit'' (1946) *''Väikelinna moosekant'' (1946) *''Ise idas – silmad läänes'' (1948) *''Siuru-raamat'' (1949) *''Reisiraamat'' (1950) *''Lahkumine'' (1951) *''Kadunud maailm'' (1954)

Theatre critiques and history

*''Das estnische Theater'' (1933) *''Vilet ja loorbereid'' (1938) *''Teatriraamat: ajalugu ja isiklikke kogemusi'' (1958)

Children's books

*''Nakits: lugu väikesest lõbusast ja targast koerast'' (1944)

References

External links

Artur Adson at Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Adson, Artur 1889 births 1977 deaths People from Rõuge Parish People from Kreis Werro Estonian male poets 20th-century Estonian poets 20th-century Estonian male writers Estonian theatre critics University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 4th Class Estonian World War II refugees Estonian emigrants to Sweden Refugees in Sweden Burials at Skogskyrkogården