Enn Vetemaa
Encyclopedia
Enn Vetemaa is an Estonia
n writer sometimes referred as a "forgotten classic" as well as "the unofficial master of the Estonian Modernist short novel".
to a family of an architect. He graduated from Tallinn Polytechnic Institute in 1959 with a degree in Chemical Engineering
. His choice of the subject was influenced by his grand father a pioneer photographer and radio-engineer, who started photography in 19th century and experimented with radio-transmitting two years after Alexander Popov
.
Without working out the required three years Vetemaa abandoned his engineering career and entered Tallinn Conservatoire that he graduated from in 1965. Despite being a very successful student of music Vetemaa decided that he is not as strong as his classmates: now famous Arvo Pärt
and Jaan Rääts
. Vetemaa abandoned music and returned to writing poetry.
First publications of Vetemaa's poetry were in 1958. He published books of poetry Critical Age in 1962 and Game of snowballs in 1966. He became a notable figure among the young poets of Estonia but his ironic and rational intellect forces to switch into prose.
In 1964 he finished and in 1966 published his arguably most famous novel Monument. The novel already does something that is unusual in the context of Estonian literature: the narrator is a negative character. In this way Vetemaa makes his readers enter the mind of a character for whom they feel no empathy. The narrator, a young successful sculptor kandidat
of architecture Sven Voore, returns from Moscow
to Tallinn to work on a memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers. He is supposed to decorate the зувestal for the work of a young talented sculptor Ain Saarema, the problem is that the monument eventually designed by Ain does not need any pedestals: it shows only arms that the dead soldiers rise from their graves through the ground. The narrator's intrigues eventually lead to the monument eventually done by a Stalinist Magnus Tee, the narrator getting the job of the pedestal, promotion in the Estonian art unions and the wife of Ain Sarema. The resulting monument is done in the traditions of the socialist realism
but has ghostly long arms (inherited from the project of Ain).
The novel was originally forbidden to publishing but Vetemaa happen to meet the censor. After a few days of heavy drinking with Vetemaa the censor find courage to allow the novel for publications. The novel was printed just at the climax of the Khrushchev Thaw
and was quite well received. Vetemaa got the USSR Writer's Union prize for the best novel. In 1978 the novel was transferred to a play directed by Valery Fokin
in Moscow
Sovremennik Theater. It is consider to be the best theater work of Konstantin Raikin
.
After the Monument Vetemaa publishes other Small Novells : Tiredness (Усталость) (1967), Väike reekviem suupillile (written in 1967, printed in 1968), Chinese Eggs Яйца по-китайски (written – 1967–1969, printed – 1972). All together Vetemaa wrote ten "short novels"
Vetemaa continues to work as a playwright. His play Õhtusöök viiele (Dinner for Five), first performed in 1972, and the comedy Püha Susanna ehk Meistrite kool (Saint Susanna or the School of Masters), first performed in 1974, demonstrate Vetemaa’s sharp eye and witty lines; texts without which Estonian Theatre History would not be complete.
In 1983 Vetemaa prepared his most famous text compilation Eesti näkiliste välimäärja (The Reference Book of Estonian Mermaids) which mixes frivolity with popular science. He also wrote a lot of variations on the themes of Estonian Epic poetry
.
The latest Vetemaa novel is My Very Sweet Life Or A Marzipan-maker published in 2002.
Speaking about controversy caused by relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
Vetemma supported the idea of erecting a monument to Boris Yeltsin
on the vacant place. Still he would prefer to put their the monument to Lennart Meri
, the first Estonian president after the disbanding of the Soviet Union
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
n writer sometimes referred as a "forgotten classic" as well as "the unofficial master of the Estonian Modernist short novel".
Biography
Vetemaa was born in TallinnTallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
to a family of an architect. He graduated from Tallinn Polytechnic Institute in 1959 with a degree in Chemical Engineering
Chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is the branch of engineering that deals with physical science , and life sciences with mathematics and economics, to the process of converting raw materials or chemicals into more useful or valuable forms...
. His choice of the subject was influenced by his grand father a pioneer photographer and radio-engineer, who started photography in 19th century and experimented with radio-transmitting two years after Alexander Popov
Alexander Stepanovich Popov
Alexander Stepanovich Popov was a Russian physicist who was the first person to demonstrate the practical application of electromagnetic waves....
.
Without working out the required three years Vetemaa abandoned his engineering career and entered Tallinn Conservatoire that he graduated from in 1965. Despite being a very successful student of music Vetemaa decided that he is not as strong as his classmates: now famous Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
and Jaan Rääts
Jaan Rääts
Jaan Rääts is an Estonian composer who worked extensively in Estonian language film scores of the 1960s and 1970s....
. Vetemaa abandoned music and returned to writing poetry.
First publications of Vetemaa's poetry were in 1958. He published books of poetry Critical Age in 1962 and Game of snowballs in 1966. He became a notable figure among the young poets of Estonia but his ironic and rational intellect forces to switch into prose.
In 1964 he finished and in 1966 published his arguably most famous novel Monument. The novel already does something that is unusual in the context of Estonian literature: the narrator is a negative character. In this way Vetemaa makes his readers enter the mind of a character for whom they feel no empathy. The narrator, a young successful sculptor kandidat
Kandidat
The Candidate of Sciences degree is a first post-graduate scientific degree in some former Eastern Bloc countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, which is awarded for original research that constitutes a significant contribution to a scientific field. The degree was first introduced in the USSR on...
of architecture Sven Voore, returns from Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
to Tallinn to work on a memorial to fallen Soviet soldiers. He is supposed to decorate the зувestal for the work of a young talented sculptor Ain Saarema, the problem is that the monument eventually designed by Ain does not need any pedestals: it shows only arms that the dead soldiers rise from their graves through the ground. The narrator's intrigues eventually lead to the monument eventually done by a Stalinist Magnus Tee, the narrator getting the job of the pedestal, promotion in the Estonian art unions and the wife of Ain Sarema. The resulting monument is done in the traditions of the socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
but has ghostly long arms (inherited from the project of Ain).
The novel was originally forbidden to publishing but Vetemaa happen to meet the censor. After a few days of heavy drinking with Vetemaa the censor find courage to allow the novel for publications. The novel was printed just at the climax of the Khrushchev Thaw
Khrushchev Thaw
The Khrushchev Thaw refers to the period from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s, when repression and censorship in the Soviet Union were partially reversed and millions of Soviet political prisoners were released from Gulag labor camps, due to Nikita Khrushchev's policies of de-Stalinization and...
and was quite well received. Vetemaa got the USSR Writer's Union prize for the best novel. In 1978 the novel was transferred to a play directed by Valery Fokin
Valery Fokin
Valery Fokin is a Russian theatrical director and writer. He is the General and Artistic Director of The Meyerhold Centre in Moscow and the Artistic Director of the Alexandrinksy Theatre in St. Petersburg. Fokin is decorated with four honorary Russian state awards.-Biography:Fokin was born in...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
Sovremennik Theater. It is consider to be the best theater work of Konstantin Raikin
Konstantin Raikin
Konstantin Arkadyevich Raikin is a Russian film and theater actor, director of the Moscow Satyricon theater...
.
After the Monument Vetemaa publishes other Small Novells : Tiredness (Усталость) (1967), Väike reekviem suupillile (written in 1967, printed in 1968), Chinese Eggs Яйца по-китайски (written – 1967–1969, printed – 1972). All together Vetemaa wrote ten "short novels"
Vetemaa continues to work as a playwright. His play Õhtusöök viiele (Dinner for Five), first performed in 1972, and the comedy Püha Susanna ehk Meistrite kool (Saint Susanna or the School of Masters), first performed in 1974, demonstrate Vetemaa’s sharp eye and witty lines; texts without which Estonian Theatre History would not be complete.
In 1983 Vetemaa prepared his most famous text compilation Eesti näkiliste välimäärja (The Reference Book of Estonian Mermaids) which mixes frivolity with popular science. He also wrote a lot of variations on the themes of Estonian Epic poetry
Epic poetry
An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
.
The latest Vetemaa novel is My Very Sweet Life Or A Marzipan-maker published in 2002.
Speaking about controversy caused by relocation of the Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
Bronze Soldier of Tallinn
The Bronze Soldier is the informal name of a controversial Soviet World War II war memorial in Tallinn, Estonia, built at the site of several war graves, which were relocated to the nearby Tallinn Military Cemetery in 2007...
Vetemma supported the idea of erecting a monument to Boris Yeltsin
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999.Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the perestroika reforms as one of Gorbachev's most powerful political opponents. On 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of...
on the vacant place. Still he would prefer to put their the monument to Lennart Meri
Lennart Meri
Lennart Georg Meri was a writer, film director and statesman who served as the second President of Estonia from 1992 to 2001. Meri was a leader of the Estonian independence movement.-Early life:...
, the first Estonian president after the disbanding of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....