Mihkel Veske ( – ) was an
Estonian poet and
linguist
Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
.
[Henno Jänes, ''Geschichte der estnischen Literatur'', p48.]
Life
Mihkel Veske was born in Veske farm, Holstre Parish (now in
Metsla village,
Viljandi Parish
Viljandi Parish () is a rural Municipalities of Estonia, municipality of Viljandi County, Estonia. It is located around the town of Viljandi, but does not include it.
Viljandi Parish was established by merging four municipalities: Paistu Parish, ...
),
Viljandi County
Viljandi County ( or ''Viljandimaa''; ) is one of 15 counties of Estonia. It is located in southern Estonia bordering Pärnu, Järva, Jõgeva, Tartu and Valga counties as well as Latvia.
History
Viljandimaa, under the German name of ''Krei ...
in northern
Livonia
Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...
in the
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
. He attended the village school in Pullerits, the parish school in
Paistu and secondary school 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 ...
. Between 1866 and 1867 he attended the mission school in
Leipzig
Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
. In 1872 he graduated from the
University of Leipzig
Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...
with a doctoral degree. He published his doctorate in 1873 on comparative grammar of languages. Veske then returned to Estonia and worked as a journalist for the newspaper ''
Eesti Põllumees''.
From 1874 to 1887 Veske was a lecturer in
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 ...
at the
University of Dorpat
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. . From 1886 until his untimely death in 1890 Veske was a lecturer in
Finno-Ugric languages
Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in the 19th centur ...
at the
University of Kazan
Kazan Federal University (; ) is a public research university located in Kazan, Russia.
The university was founded in 1804 as Imperial Kazan University, which makes it the second oldest continuously existing tertiary education institution in Rus ...
.
During the 1880s, Veske was one of the leading representatives of the
Estonian national awakening
The Estonian Age of Awakening () is a period in history where Estonians came to acknowledge themselves as a nation deserving the right to govern themselves. This period is considered to begin in the 1850s with greater rights being granted to com ...
. He belonged to the strongly patriotic groups around the Estonian intellectuals and journalists
Carl Robert Jakobson
Carl Robert Jakobson ( – ) was an Estonian writer, politician and teacher active in the Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. He was one of the most important persons of the Estonian national awakening in the second half of the 19th centur ...
. From 1882 to 1886 Veske was the President of the
Society of Estonian Literati
The Society of Estonian Literati ( – EKmS) was an influential association of Estonian intellectuals based in Tartu between the years 1871 and 1893.Toivo U. Raun, ''Estonia and the Estonians'', Hoover Press, 2001, , p75
History
The articles of ...
. 1884 Veske edited the magazine ''Oma Maa'' (My Land).
Veske was one of the first Estonian linguists to use the comparative method of historical linguistics. Between 1875 and 1884, he spent the summers traveling, comparing the dialects in different regions. In 1880 he visited
Finland
Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...
, and in 1885/86
Hungary
Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...
. He advocated an Estonian standard language on the basis of the
North Estonian dialect and phonetic spelling. During his time in Kazan, he studied the languages of the
Mari and
Mordvin, and dealt with the cultural relations between the
Finno-Ugric
Finno-Ugric () is a traditional linguistic grouping of all languages in the Uralic languages, Uralic language family except for the Samoyedic languages. Its once commonly accepted status as a subfamily of Uralic is based on criteria formulated in ...
and
Slavic peoples
The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, Southeast ...
. In 1881-83 he created a two volume textbook of
Finnish.
After his death in
Kazan
Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
, Veske's body was returned to Estonia. He is buried at the
Uus-Jaani cemetery in Tartu (Dorpat). The bronze bust on his tomb was created by the Estonian sculptor
August Weizenberg
August Ludwig Weizenberg (6 April 1837 – 22 November 1921) was an Estonian sculptor.
Life
Weizenberg was born in the inn of Ritsike, near Kanepi, southeast Estonia. Weizenberg's father was a shoemaker and he learnt how to carve wood in Era ...
(now lost).
Poetry
Veske's poetry is inspired by the simplicity of the popular Estonian folk song. Veske also collected folk poetry. He translated numerous
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
,
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
,
Finnish and
Hungarian folk songs into Estonian.
Poetry collection
*''Viisidega laulud'' (1874)
*''Dr. Veske laulud'' (1899)
*''Mihkel Veske laulud'' (1931)
References
1843 births
1890 deaths
People from Viljandi Parish
People from Kreis Fellin
Estonian male poets
Poets from the Russian Empire
19th-century Estonian poets
Estonian translators
Translators to Estonian
19th-century translators
19th-century male writers
Leipzig University alumni
Academic staff of Kazan Federal University
Academic staff of the University of Tartu
Burials at Raadi cemetery
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