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Jaan Kross (19 February 1920 – 27 December 2007) was the most eminent contemporary Estonian
Estonians

Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. The Estonians speak a Finno-Ugric languages language, known as Estonian....
 writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
.

in Tallinn
Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Estonia and of Harju County. It occupies a surface of 159.2 km? in which 397,617 inhabitants live....
, Estonia
Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
, studied Jacob Westholm´s Grammar school, Kross attended the University of Tartu
University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. Regarded by many Estonians as the country's "national university", it is the highest-ranked university in Estonia as well as one of the highest-ranked in former Eastern Europe....
 (1938-1945) and graduated from its School of Law. He taught there as a lecturer until 1946, and again as Professor of Artes Liberales in 1998.

Kross was first arrested by the Germans
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 for six months in 1944, and then by the Soviet
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 occupation authorities in 1946, who deported him to a Gulag
Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Gulag is the Russian acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies of the NKVD....
 camp in Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
.






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Jaan Kross (19 February 1920 – 27 December 2007) was the most eminent contemporary Estonian
Estonians

Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. The Estonians speak a Finno-Ugric languages language, known as Estonian....
 writer
Writer

A writer is anyone who creates a written work, although the word usually designates those who write creatively or professionally, as well as those who have written in many different forms....
.

Early life

Born in Tallinn
Tallinn

Tallinn is the capital and largest city in the Republic of Estonia and of Harju County. It occupies a surface of 159.2 km? in which 397,617 inhabitants live....
, Estonia
Estonia

Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Finland across the Gulf of Finland, to the west by Sweden across the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by the Russia ....
, studied Jacob Westholm´s Grammar school, Kross attended the University of Tartu
University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. Regarded by many Estonians as the country's "national university", it is the highest-ranked university in Estonia as well as one of the highest-ranked in former Eastern Europe....
 (1938-1945) and graduated from its School of Law. He taught there as a lecturer until 1946, and again as Professor of Artes Liberales in 1998.

Kross was first arrested by the Germans
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 for six months in 1944, and then by the Soviet
Soviet Union

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a Constitution of the Soviet Union socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991.The name is a translation of the , romanization of Russian Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated ????, SSSR....
 occupation authorities in 1946, who deported him to a Gulag
Gulag

The Gulag was the government agency that administered the penal labor camps of the Soviet Union. Gulag is the Russian acronym for The Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies of the NKVD....
 camp in Russia
Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
. Upon his return from Siberia
Siberia

Siberia , is the name given to the vast region constituting almost all of North Asia and for the most part currently serving as the massive central and eastern portion of the Russian Federation, having served in the same capacity previously for the Soviet Union from its beginning, and the Russian Empire beginning in the 16th century....
 to Estonia in 1954 he became a professional writer.

Career


Recognition

Kross is by far the most translated and nationally and internationally best-known Estonian writer. He was nominated several times for the Nobel Prize in Literature
Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" ....
, and was named a People's Writer
People's Writer

People's Writer was a title granted by the Republics of the Soviet Union and the Autonomous Republics of the Soviet Union to its distinguished writers....
 of the Estonian SSR
Estonian SSR

The Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic , often abbreviated as Estonian SSR or ESSR, was puppet state backed by Soviet Union on the territory of Republic of Estonia....
 (1985); he received the State Prize of the Estonian SSR
State Prizes of the Soviet Republics

The State Prizes of the Soviet Republics were each republic counterpart to the USSR State Prize. Each republic granted several different prizes, generally named after writers or artists from the republic, as well as a blanket Komsomol prize for young artists....
 (1977). He also held several honorary doctorates and international decorations, including the highest Estonian order and one of the highest German orders.

In 1990 Kross won the Amnesty International
Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organization which defines its mission as "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated." Founded in London, England in 1961, AI draws its attention to human rights abuses and...
 Golden Flame Prize.

Style

Kross' novels and short stories are almost universally historical; indeed, he is often credited with a significant rejuvenation of the genre
Genre

A genre is a loose set of criteria for a category of composition; the term is often used to categorize literature and speech, but is also used for any other Art#Art forms or utterance....
 of the historical novel
Historical novel

A historical novel is a novel in which the story is set among historical events, or more generally, in which the time of the action predates the lifetime of the author....
. Most of his works take place in Estonia and deal, usually, with the relationship of Estonians and Baltic German
Baltic German

The Baltic Germans were mostly ethnic German inhabitants of the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, which today form the countries of Estonia and Latvia....
s and Russians
Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
. Very often, Kross' description of the historical struggle of the Estonians against the Baltic Germans is actually a metaphor
Metaphor

Metaphor is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects. It is a figure of speech that compares two or more things without using the words "like" or "as." More generally, a metaphor describes a first subject as being or equal to a second object in some way....
 for the contemporary struggle against the Soviet occupation
Occupation of Baltic Republics

The occupation of the Baltic states refers to the Military occupation of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania first by the Soviet Union under the provisions of the 1939 Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact with Nazi Germany, then by Occupation of Baltic republics by Nazi Germany, and again by the Soviet Union from 1944-91....
. However, Kross' acclaim internationally (and nationally even after the regaining of Estonian independence) show that his novels also deal with topics beyond such concerns; rather, they deal with questions of mixed identities, loyalty, and belonging.

Generally, The Czar's Madman
The Czar's Madman

The Czar's Madman is a 1978 novel by Estonian writer Jaan Kross....
 has been considered Kross' best novel; it is also the most translated one. Also well-translated is Professor Martens' Departure
Professor Martens' Departure

Professor Martens' Departure is a 1984 historical novel set in czarist Russia by Estonian writer Jaan Kross....
, which because of its subject matter (academics, expertise, and national loyalty) is very popular in academe and an important "professorial novel". The earlier Excavations, dealing with the thaw
Khrushchev Thaw

Khrushchev's Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, when political repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were partially reversed, and millions of Soviet political prisoners were released from Gulag labor camps, because Nikita Khrushchev initiated de-Stalinisation of Soviet life and the policy of peaceful coe...
 period after Stalin
Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 until his death in 1953....
's death as well as with the Danish
Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in northern Europe and the senior member of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries....
 conquest of Estonia in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, and today considered by several critics as his finest, has not been translated into English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 yet; it is however available in German
German language

German is a West Germanic languages, thus related to and classified alongside English language and Dutch language. It is one of the world's world language and the most widely spoken mother tongue in the European Union....
.

Death


Jaan Kross died in Tallinn, at the age of 87, on 27 December 2007. He was survived by his wife Ellen Niit and four children. The President of Estonia
President of Estonia

The President of the Republic is the head of state of the Estonia.Estonia is a parliamentary democracy, therefore President is mainly a symbolic figure and holds no executive power....
, Toomas Hendrik Ilves
Toomas Hendrik Ilves

Toomas Hendrik Ilves is the current President of Estonia of Estonia. He is a former diplomat and journalist, was the leader of the Social Democratic Party in the 1990s and later a member of the European Parliament....
, praised Kross "as a preserver of the Estonian language and culture."

Quotes

  • "He was one of those who kept fresh the spirits of the people and made us ready to take the opportunity of restoring Estonia's independence." — Toomas Hendrik Ilves


Works by Jaan Kross

  • Kolme katku vahel (Between Three Plagues, 1970)
  • Keisri hull (The Czar's Madman
    The Czar's Madman

    The Czar's Madman is a 1978 novel by Estonian writer Jaan Kross....
    , 1978)
  • Professor Martensi ärasõit (Professor Martens' Departure
    Professor Martens' Departure

    Professor Martens' Departure is a 1984 historical novel set in czarist Russia by Estonian writer Jaan Kross....
    , 1984)
  • Wikmani poisid (The Wikman Boys, 1988)
  • Väljakaevamised (Excavations, 1990)
  • Mesmeri ring (Mesmer's Circle, 1995)
  • Tahtamaa (2001)
  • Paigallend (Treading Air
    Treading Air

    Treading Air is Jaan Kross' thirteenth novel. He tells the story of the generation of Estonia with which he grew up. The unhealed wounds of recent Estonia has been to the fore in Kross' short stories and in such novels as Wikmani poisid , Mesmeri ring and V?ljakaevamised ....
    , 2002)
  • Kallid kaasteelised (Dear Co-travellers, 2003)
  • Omaeluloolisus ja alltekst (Autobiographism and Subtext, 2003)
  • Vandenõu (The Conspiracy and other stories)


External links