The Learned Estonian Society ( et, Õpetatud Eesti Selts, shortened ÕES; german: Gelehrte Estnische Gesellschaft, shortened GEG) is Estonia's oldest scholarly organisation, and was formed at the
University of Tartu
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
in 1838. Its charter was to study Estonia's history and pre-history, its language, literature and folklore.
Friedrich Robert Faehlmann,
Alexander Friedrich von Hueck and Dietrich Heinrich Jürgenson led the society that consisted of Estonian and
Estophile Baltic German
Baltic Germans (german: Deutsch-Balten or , later ) were ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea, in what today are Estonia and Latvia. Since their coerced resettlement in 1939, Baltic Germans have markedly declined ...
intellectuals. The society provides language analysis services in addition to assistance in the development of the scientific study of history, archeology, ethnography, numismatics and art history. The society published yearbooks, bibliographies and ''Proceedings''. The initial version of
Friedrich Reinhold Kreutzwald's ''
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 ...
'' was published in its ''Proceedings'' between 1857 and 1861.
In 1950 the Soviet occupation authorities shut down the society and split its collection of 25,000 books, 160,000 pages of manuscripts and 60,000 ethnographical items between several other institutes. The society was restored in 1988 on the initiative of Professor Herbert Ligi of
Tartu University
The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...
.
As of 2015, the society's board of directors was:
Mart Kuldkepp, Taavi Pae, Marju Luts-Sootak,
Tiit Rosenberg, Kersti Taal, Tõnu-Andrus Tannberg,
Heiki Valk
Heiki Valk (born 7 May 1959, in Tartu) is an Estonian archaeologist. He is a senior research fellow and head of archaeological laboratory at Tartu University specialising in Estonia in the Middle Ages. From 23 January 2008, he has been Chairm ...
, and Piret Õunapuu.
See also
*
Society of Estonian Literati
References
External links
Õpetatud Eesti Selts(Estonian, English, German)
Sitzungsberichte der gelehrten estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat, 1863-1940(Yearbooks of the Learned Estonian Society, 1863-1940)
Verhandlungen der gelehrten Estnischen Gesellschaft zu Dorpat, 1840-1943(Proceedings of the Learned Estonian Society, 1840-1943)
{{Authority control
University of Tartu
Estonian literature
Estonian folklore
Historiography of Estonia
Organizations established in 1838
1830s establishments in Estonia
Learned societies of Estonia
1838 establishments in the Russian Empire