Life

August Mälk was born on October 4, 1900, in Lümanda Parish in the village of Koovi

Koovi

Koovi is a village in Lümanda Parish, Saare County in western Estonia....

 (then named Kipi-Koovi), located on the west coast of the island of Saaremaa

Saaremaa

Saaremaa is the largest island in Estonia, measuring 2,673 km². The main island of Saare County, it is located in the Baltic Sea, south of Hiiumaa island, and belongs to the West Estonian Archipelago...

, in modern-day Estonia (then part of the Governorate of Livonia in the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

).
He attended the University of Tartu

University of Tartu

The University of Tartu is a classical university in the city of Tartu, Estonia. University of Tartu is the national university of Estonia; it is the biggest and highest-ranked university in Estonia...

 from 1923 to 1925 and then returned to Saaremaa to
work as a teacher. He began his literary career while headmaster of the elementary school in Lümanda, publishing his first novel, Kesaliblik in 1926.

Mälk married Pauline Triipan in 1933. The couple had one daughter.

In 1935, Mälk achieved great success with his novel Õitsev Meri (The Flowering Sea), depicting life in a fishing village. It was the first volume of a trilogy that also included Taeva Palge All (Under the Face of Heaven) and Hea Sadam (The Good Port). In addition to his 18 novels, he also wrote plays, short stories and two books of memoirs. Several of his novels have been translated into German and Finnish.

Mälk became involved in politics in the 1930s. He was a member of the National Constituent Assembly (Rahvuskogu) in 1937. In 1938, he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (Riigivolikogu), where he served until the Soviet invasion of Estonia in 1940.

In 1944, Mälk fled into exile in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

during the second Soviet invasion of Estonia.
In Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

, he served as the chairman of the Estonian Writers Union Abroad

Estonian Writers' Union

The Estonian Writers Union , is a professional association of Estonian writers and literary critics.-History:...

(Välismaine Eesti Kirjanike Liit) from its founding in 1945 until 1982. He died in Stockholm in 1987.

In 2000, the Estonian Post Office issued a stamp commemorating the centenary of Mälk's birth.

Novels

• Kesaliblik (1926)
• Õnnepagulane (1928)
• Hukkumine (1928)
• Läbi öö (1929)
• Kivine pesa (1932)
• Üks neistsinastest (1933)
• Surnud majad (1934)
• Õitsev meri (1935)
• Läänemere isandad (1936)
• Taeva Palgen all (1937)
• Kivid Tules (1939)
• Hea sadam (1942)
• Öised linnud (1945)
• Kodumaata (1947)
• Tea kaevule (two volumes, 1952-1953)
• Päike küla kohal (1957)
• Toomas Tamm (1959)
• Kevadine maa (1963)

Short stories and novels

• Surnu surm (1926)
• Anne-Marie (six short stories, 1927)
• Surnud elu (1929)
• Jutte lindudest (six children stories, 1934)
• Rannajutud (five short stories, 1936)
• Avatud värav. Lugu minevikust (1937)
• Mere tuultes (four short stories, 1938)
• Päike Kadunud. Jutte minevikust (five stories, 1943)
• Jumala tuultes. Viis jutustust (1949)
• Tuli sinu Isesüttiv (seven short stories, 1955)
• Jumalaga, meri! (1967)
• Project Victoria. Kuus lugu (1978)
• Tere, meri! (Collection, posthumously ed. Aarne Vinkel, 1991)

Plays

• Moodne Cain (1930)
• Vaes mehe ututall (Comedy, 1932)
• Neitsid lampidega (Comedy, 1933)
• Isad tee (1934)
• Mees merelt (1935)
• Õitsev meri (dramatization of Andres Särev, 1936)
• Vanakurja vokk (dramatization of Paul Sepp, 1936)
• Õnnega hada (comedy, under the pseudonym Kihulane Juhan, 1937)
• Sikud kaevul (Comedy, 1938)
• Taeva Palgen all (dramatization of Andres Särev, 1938)

Memoirs

• Hommikust keskpäevani. Elupilte ja mälestusi (1972)
• Peale päevapööret. Mõtteid ja mälestusi (1976)

External links

• Postage stamp commemorating centenary of August Mälk's birth.