Astrid Reinla (born Astrid Kuningas; 1 March 1948, in

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 ...

– 1 January 1995, in Tallinn) 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 writer. Reinla was born in Tallinn. Her father was literary scholar, literary and theatre critic, cultural historian and translator Oskar Kuningas. Her older sister was chess player and journalist Merike Rõtova and her first cousin was actress Helle Kuningas. In 1974 she graduated from 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.

with a degree in Estonian philology. From 1966 until 1969 she worked as a bibliographer at

Estonian National Library The National Library of Estonia () is a national public institution in Estonia, which operates pursuant to the National Library of Estonia Act (). It was established as the parliamentary library () of Estonia on December 21, 1918. According to th ...

. from 1974 until 1976, she worked as a language editor at

Eesti Raamat Eesti Raamat (Eesti Raamat OÜ) is an Estonian publisher which is located in 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 s ...

, and from 1976 until 1979, at the journal '' Horisont''. Since 1979 she was a freelance writer. Besides books she wrote also worked as a screenwriter for the television programs, including the

Eesti Televisioon Eesti Televisioon (ETV) () is an Estonian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by Estonian Public Broadcasting. It made its first broadcast on 19 July 1955. History Eesti Televisioon (''Estonian Television'') was launched on ...

drama series ''

Õnne 13 Õnne 13 is an Estonian dramatic TV series that airs on ETV. The series first aired on 30 October 1993 and was written by Astrid Reinla and as of 1996 by Teet Kallas. Rainer Kerge. Vabandage, proua, kas see maja on Õnne tänav 13?'. Õhtule ...

''. Reinla was married to writer and translator Boris Kabur.

Early life

She studied at Tallinn secondary schools no. 29 (1955–1961) and 7 (1961–1966) and at Tartu State University (1969–1974) from where she graduated as an Estonian philologist. Reinla's first piece of writing was published in a periodical in 1969. The most fertile creative period in her less than 50 years of life fell into the 1980s when she published collections of both poetry and short stories but also children's books and plays. The latter include, e.g., ''Naeris naeris'' (‘The Turnip Laughed’, 1984), which was staged at the Estonian Puppet Theatre, and ''Koduabiline'' (‘Domestic Helper’, 1986) which was staged at the Ugala Theatre. Although Reinla's creation had an essential role in her time, and critic Aivar Kull has called her “a balancing, reconciling force that mitigated tensions in that time's cultural life”, today she is best known as a children's writer. Several generations have grown up with her mythological character Pätu (1988) whom no one has seen, but who can be made responsible for any mischief that has happened at home. In 1990 the book was screened as a television play; an audio cassette with Pätu's songs was also released. The painfully realistic story about the forsaken cat Teofrastus (1985), which reflects the value judgements and sore points of that time's society, may have inspired several younger writers’ children's books about cats and given a new dimension to the local identity of the Mustamäe district in Tallinn and the South Estonian village Peedu. ''Teofrastus'' was made into a puppet film as late as in 2018, which proves the strong impact the book had on children when was published, and how it continues to live on in their memories. ''Teofrastus'' has been translated into German and English (both 1989). Many Estonians remember Reinla even now as the author of the idea and the first scriptwriter of the popular television series ''Õnne 13 (Meie elu lood)'' (‘13 Õnne Street (The Stories of Our Life)’). Although the scriptwriters of the series initiated by her in 1993 have changed for several times, being always well-known Estonian writers, the series is still popular and has continued uninterruptedly for several decades. In 1995, Reinla posthumously received the Literature Endowment Annual Award for ''Õnne 13''. Reinla has translated the collection of science-fiction stories by the Russian writer Andrei Balabukha ''Eelkäijad'' (‘Forerunners’, 1978), Ella Fonyakova's story for young adults ''Tolle talve leib'' (‘The Bread of That Winter’, 1979), ''Teekond teise ilma ehk suur palverännak'' (‘Journey into the Other World or Great Pilgrimage’, 1980) by the Tajik writer Fazlidin Mukhamadiev and Helen Keller's novel ''Minu elu lugu'' (‘The Story of My Life’, 1995).

Works

* 1982: collection of short stories "Inimestega" * 1985: children's book "Teofrastus" * 1987: collection of short stories "Plekk-katus" * 1988: children's book "Pätu" * 1989: children's book "Miikael" * 1994: children's book "Lumeelevant. Krooksjalad"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reinla, Astrid 1948 births 1995 deaths Estonian women short story writers Estonian children's writers Estonian women children's writers 20th-century Estonian women writers 21st-century Estonian women writers University of Tartu alumni Writers from Tallinn Burials at Metsakalmistu