Mats Traat (23 November 1936 – 27 June 2022) was an Estonian poet, poetry translator, and author.
Career
Traat was born in
Arula
Arula is a village in Otepää Parish
Otepää Parish ( et, Otepää vald) is a rural municipality in Valga County, southern Estonia. It includes the town of Otepää.
Settlements
;Town
Otepää
;Small boroughs
Puka - Sangaste
;Villages ...
,
Otepää Parish
Otepää Parish ( et, Otepää vald) is a rural municipality in Valga County, southern Estonia. It includes the town of Otepää.
Settlements
;Town
Otepää
;Small boroughs
Puka - Sangaste
;Villages
Ädu - Arula- Ilmjärve - Kääriku ...
. He debuted in 1962 with a collection of poetry. He published over 20 anthologies of poetry. His poetry frequently dealt with social commentary and society's adoration for science. His lyrics praised nature and his native country. He also translated poetry from
Slavic languages
The Slavic languages, also known as the Slavonic languages, are Indo-European languages spoken primarily by the Slavs, Slavic peoples and their descendants. They are thought to descend from a proto-language called Proto-Slavic language, Proto ...
(Polish, Macedonian, Czech).
Traat wrote about the indigenous Estonian
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...
. His central topics were the changes and the developments of Estonian rural life in the course of centuries, with an emphasis on people's ethical choices. In ''Trees Were, Trees Were Tender Brothers'' (1979), a young protagonist wages a struggle to keep a farm running, something he never desired to do.http://elm.einst.ee/issue/24/views-freedom-mats-traat
''Pasqueflower, Antidote for Sadness'' (1982/uncensored version 1990) covered the fate of ancient
Livonians
The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language ...
, conquered and formally aligning with the Christian invaders, while maintaining pagan convictions, and the problems of rural life during the stagnation era
Estonian SSR
The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an National delimitation in ...
.
''Dance around the Steam Boiler'' (1971; originally a film script, that was finally accomplished in 1988) illustrated with five 'dances' with the
portable engine
A portable engine is an engine, either a steam engine or an internal combustion engine, that sits in one place while operating (providing power to machinery), but (unlike a stationary engine) is portable and thus can be easily moved from one w ...
the changes of rural life in half a century. In the movie, filmed during the perestroika era, a sixth 'dance' was added, showing the old age of the main characters on the background of the typical rural scenes of 1980s: industrial and technological developments combined with a reckless destruction of the environment.
Traat's short story, ''The Cross of Power,'' won the
Friedebert Tuglas
Friedebert Tuglas, born Friedebert Mihkelson or Michelson (2 March 1886 – 15 April 1971) was an Estonian writer and critic who introduced Impressionism and Symbolism to Estonian literature.Estonian Literature Information Center