- Eduard Bornhöhe
Eduard Bornhöhe, born Eduard Brunberg (
5 February 1862 Virumaa —17 November 1923 Tallinn ), best known by hispen name Eduard Bornhöhe, was anEstonia nwriter .Bornhöhe is generally considered a pioneer of the genre of Estonian historical novelle, as a lion's share of his creations consist of
romantism -influenced historical adventure stories.Bibliography
*1880
Tasuja (Estonian for "Avenger"): A historical story, set during the time ofSt. George's Night Uprising . Widely considered the best story of Bornhöhe.*1890
Villu võitlused (Estonian for "Battles of Villu"): Another historical story set during the time ofSt. George's Night Uprising . More realistic and less naïve thanTasuja , with more complicated characters.*1892
Tallinna narrid ja narrikesed (Estonian for "Big fools and little fools of Tallinn"): A satirical series of contemporary cranks.*1893
Vürst Gabriel ehk Pirita kloostri viimsed päevad (Estonian for "Furst Gabriel or The last days of Pirita monastery"): This historical story, best known through themovie adaptationViimne reliikvia (Estonian for "The last relic"), is set during a peasant uprising in the era ofLivonian War . Due to Czarist censorship, this remained Bornhöhe's last historical story.*1899
Usurändajate radadel (Estonian for "On the trail of faith travellers"): A travel diary.*1903
Kollid (Estonian for "Monsters"): Arealist short novelle.Withdrawal from publication
In 1893, the
Russian Empire 'scensor prohibited publication of historical stories. This led to eventual withdrawal of Bornhöhe from writing. Notably, he didn't publish any books within the last twenty years of his life.Soviet views
Since Bornhöhe's preferred topic was
Estonia's ancient fight for freedom rather than more complex or more polemical subjects, Soviets generally found his writings useful, and presented them as examples of pre-Sovietpatriotism .Vürst Gabriel ehk Pirita kloostri viimased päevad was made into a movie, the first part ofTallinna narrid ja narrikesed was repeatedly published and adapted for TV under Soviet occupation, and Bornhöhe's historical novelles were constantly in lists ofmandatory reading in Soviet schools.Sources
* "Eduard Bornhöhe. Kirjanik ja inimene", a short monograph (1961) from the series of "Eesti kirjamehi" by
Endel Nirk
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