Mati Sirkel (born 12 October 1949) is 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 translator and writer.

Career

He was born in

Paide Paide is a town in Estonia and the capital of Järva County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia. Etymology Paide's German name (originally or in Low German) means 'white stone'. This name was derived from the limestone used for the constru ...

. In 1972 he graduated from

Tartu State University The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a Public university, 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.literary theory Literary theory is the systematic study of the nature of literature and of the methods for literary analysis. Culler 1997, p.1 Since the 19th century, literary scholarship includes literary theory and considerations of intellectual history, m ...

and German philology. From 1972 until 1975, he worked as a junior researcher at the Institute of Language and Literature. Beginning in 1975, he worked for a year at the Estonian Literary Museum. From 1976 until 1979, he worked at the publishing house

Perioodika Perioodika is an Estonian publisher which existed from 1940-1941 and later from 1944–2004 in Tallinn. Before 1947, Perioodika published newspapers, later transitioning to magazines. Notable publications include Looming, Keel ja Kirjandus, Ak ...

. Since 1982 he is a professional translator. In 1989, he joined the

Estonian Writers' Union The Estonian Writers' Union (, abbr. EWU is a professional association of Estonian writers and literary critics.Marje Jõeste, Küllo Arjakas, ''The Baltic States'', Estonian Encyclopaedia Publishers, 1991, page 64 History The Estonian Writer ...

, in 1990, he became the secretary of the union, and from 1995 until 2004, the chairman of the board. In October 1980, Sirkel was a signatory of the Letter of 40 Intellectuals, a public letter in which forty prominent Estonian intellectuals defended the

Estonian language Estonian ( ) is a Finnic language and the official language of Estonia. It is written in the Latin script and is the first language of the majority of the country's population; it is also an official language of the European Union. Estonian is sp ...

and protested the

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

policies of the

Kremlin The Moscow Kremlin (also the Kremlin) is a fortified complex in Moscow, Russia. Located in the centre of the country's capital city, the Moscow Kremlin (fortification), Kremlin comprises five palaces, four cathedrals, and the enclosing Mosco ...

in Estonia. The signatories also expressed their unease against Republic-level government in harshly dealing with youth protests in Tallinn that were sparked a week earlier due to the banning of a public performance of the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

band

Propeller A propeller (often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon a working flu ...

. Sirkel has translated almost 50 works from German, English, Modern Greek, Swedish and Dutch. Notable translations have been works by

Elias Canetti Elias Canetti (; 25 July 1905 – 14 August 1994; ; ) was a German-language writer, known as a Literary modernism, modernist novelist, playwright, memoirist, and nonfiction writer. Born in Ruse, Bulgaria, to a Sephardi Jews, Sephardic Jewish fam ...

Peter Handke Peter Handke (; born 6 December 1942) is an Austrians, Austrian novelist, playwright, translator, poet, film director, and screenwriter. He was awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Literature "for an influential work that with linguistic ingenuity has ...

Alfred Kubin Alfred Leopold Isidor Kubin (10 April 1877 – 20 August 1959) was an Austrian artist, printmaker, illustrator, and occasional writer. Kubin is considered an important representative of Symbolism and Expressionism. Biography Kubin was born i ...

Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass (; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. He was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gda ...

Rainer Maria Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an Idiosyncrasy, idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as ...

Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando Fritz von Herzmanovsky-Orlando (1877–1954) was an Austrian writer and illustrator. Life Herzmanovsky-Orlando was born on 30 April 1877 as ''Friedrich Josef Franz Ritter von Herzmanowsky'' (Baron Herzmanowsky) in Vienna, Austria-Hungary. he ...

Thomas Bernhard Nicolaas Thomas Bernhard (; 9 February 1931 – 12 February 1989) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, poet and polemicist who is considered one of the most important German-language authors of the postwar era. He explored themes of death, iso ...

Robert Musil Robert Musil (; 6 November 1880 – 15 April 1942) was an Austrian philosophical writer. His unfinished novel, ''The Man Without Qualities'' (), is generally considered to be one of the most important and influential modernist novels. Family M ...

Friedrich Hölderlin Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin (, ; ; 20 March 1770 – 7 June 1843) was a Germans, German poet and philosopher. Described by Norbert von Hellingrath as "the most German of Germans", Hölderlin was a key figure of German Romanticis ...

, Ilse Aichinger, and Elfriede Gerstl. He has translated all the literary texts of

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...

into Estonian. In the early 1980s, he translated a large number of

Carl Michael Bellman Carl Michael Bellman (; 4 February 1740 – 11 February 1795) was a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, poet, and entertainer. He is a central figure in the Swedish song tradition and remains a powerful influence in Swedish music, as wel ...

's songs from Swedish, and together with Ott Arder he translated Bellman's stories into ''Fredman's Epistles & Songs'', as well as wrote foreword to the book. In addition, Sirkel has also translated scientific literature, including

Johan Huizinga Johan Huizinga (; 7 December 1872 – 1 February 1945) was a Dutch historian and one of the founders of modern cultural history. Life Born in Groningen as the son of Dirk Huizinga, a professor of physiology, and Jacoba Tonkens, who died two ...

's ''The Task of Cultural History. A Selection of Articles, Essays, Speeches''.

Personal life

Sirkel was married to artist

Kadri Mälk Kadri Mälk (née Kadri Sõerd; 27 January 1958 – 1 January 2023) was an Estonian artist and jewellery designer. Life and career Mälk was born on 27 January 1958 in Tallinn and began her studies at the Tartu Art School in 1977 and graduated ...

until her death in 2023.

Selected works

* ''Orva-aastad'' (2004) * ''Uued orva-aastad'' (2009) * ''Vanad vastuseta küsimused'' (2014) * ''Kuhu me siis läheme? – Eks ikka koju'' (2016)

Translations

Awards

Order of the White Star The Order of the White Star (; ) was instituted in 1936. The Order of the White Star is bestowed on Estonian citizens and foreigners to give recognition for services rendered to the Estonian state. Design Classes The Order of the White Star ...

, V Class (2001) * Estonian Cultural Endowment Annual Literature Award (2006) *

Order of the National Coat of Arms The Order of the National Coat of Arms (, ) was instituted by Konstantin Päts on 7 October 1936 to commemorate 24 February 1918, the day on which Estonian independence was declared. The Order of the National Coat of Arms is bestowed only on Est ...

, IV Class (2006) class *

Austrian Decoration for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Orders, decorations, and medals of Austria, Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science a ...

(2009) * Friedrich-Gundolf-Preis (2013) * Cultural Prize of the Republic of Estonia (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sirkel, Mati Living people 1949 births Estonian translators Estonian male writers 20th-century Estonian writers 21st-century Estonian writers Recipients of the Order of the White Star, 5th Class Recipients of the Order of the National Coat of Arms, 4th Class University of Tartu alumni People from Paide