Anton Hansen Tammsaare (30 January 1878 - 1 March 1940), born Anton Hansen, was an Estonia

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 whose pentalogy Truth and Justice

Truth and Justice

Truth and Justice I-V, written in 1926–1933, is a pentalogy by Anton Hansen Tammsaare, considered to be his most famous work, and one of the foundational works in Estonian literature....

(Tõde ja õigus; 1926–1933) is considered one of the major works of Estonian literature and "The Estonian Novel".

Biography

Tammsaare was born in Järvamaa, in the municipality of Albu

Albu Parish

Albu is a rural municipality of Estonia, in Järva County. It has a population of 1410 and an area of .-Villages:Albu has 16 villages:...

, village of Vetepere

Vetepere

Vetepere is a village in Albu Parish, Järva County in northern-central Estonia.It is the birthplace of Anton Hansen Tammsaare one of the founders of Estonian literature....

, the son of a farmer. He came from a poor background, but managed to collect enough money for his education. More so his family was quite enlightened for the time, with his father for instance ordering newspapers, which most Estonian farmers didn't. He studied in Väike-Maarja

Väike-Maarja

Väike-Maarja is a small borough in Lääne-Viru County, Estonia. It is the administrative centre of Väike-Maarja Parish.-Notable people:*Aile Asszonyi , opera singer*Eda-Ines Etti , singer*Vello Jürna , opera singer...

 and Tartu

Tartu

Tartu is the second largest city of Estonia. In contrast to Estonia's political and financial capital Tallinn, Tartu is often considered the intellectual and cultural hub, especially since it is home to Estonia's oldest and most renowned university. Situated 186 km southeast of Tallinn, the...

 in Hugo Treffner

Hugo Treffner

Hugo Hermann Fürchtegott Treffner was the founder and first director of the Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu, Livonia, Russian Empire, and an important figure in the Estonian national awakening.- Biography :...

's Gymnasium

Hugo Treffner Gymnasium

The Hugo Treffner Gymnasium is a secondary school in Tartu, Estonia with special emphasis on science education. Founded by Hugo Treffner, it was the only large secondary school in the 19th century Estonia with dominantly Estonian students and no age restrictions...

, and afterwards at 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...

, where he studied law. Tammsaare's studies were interrupted by tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...

 in 1911. He spent over a year in a sanatorium in Sochi

Sochi

Sochi is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated just north of Russia's border with the de facto independent republic of Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast. Greater Sochi sprawls for along the shores of the Black Sea near the Caucasus Mountains...

 - where his memorial house is open to the public - and the following six years in his brother's farm in Koitjärve

Koitjärve

Koitjärve is a village in Kuusalu Parish, Harju County in northern Estonia....

, Estonia (now part of Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve

Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve

Põhja-Kõrvemaa Nature Reserve is a protected area in Harju County, Northern Estonia, some 50 km east of Tallinn. With an area of 130.9 km2, it is the third largest nature reserve in Estonia...

), reading works of Cervantes

Cervantes

-People:*Alfonso J. Cervantes , mayor of St. Louis, Missouri*Francisco Cervantes de Salazar, 16th-century man of letters*Ignacio Cervantes, Cuban composer*Jorge Cervantes, a world-renowned expert on indoor, outdoor, and greenhouse cannabis cultivation...

, Shakespeare

William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 and Homer

Homer

In the Western classical tradition Homer , is the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, and is revered as the greatest ancient Greek epic poet. These epics lie at the beginning of the Western canon of literature, and have had an enormous influence on the history of literature.When he lived is...

.

In 1918, when Estonia

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...

 became independent, Tammsaare moved to Tallinn

Tallinn

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...

. It was here that Tammsaare wrote the works which have gained him a permanent place in Estonian literature. Although Tammsaare took his subjects from the history and life of the Estonian

Estonians

Estonians are a Finnic people closely related to the Finns and inhabiting, primarily, the country of Estonia. They speak a Finnic language known as Estonian...

 people, his novels have deep connections with the ideas of Bergson

Henri Bergson

Henri-Louis Bergson was a major French philosopher, influential especially in the first half of the 20th century. Bergson convinced many thinkers that immediate experience and intuition are more significant than rationalism and science for understanding reality.He was awarded the 1927 Nobel Prize...

, Jung

Carl Jung

Carl Gustav Jung was a Swiss psychiatrist and the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung is considered the first modern psychiatrist to view the human psyche as "by nature religious" and make it the focus of exploration. Jung is one of the best known researchers in the field of dream analysis and...

 and Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...

, and such writers as Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun

Knut Hamsun was a Norwegian author, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1920. He was praised by King Haakon VII of Norway as Norway's soul....

 and André Gide

André Gide

André Paul Guillaume Gide was a French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the symbolist movement, to the advent of anticolonialism between the two World Wars.Known for his fiction as well as his autobiographical works, Gide...

.

Selected works

• Kaks paari ja üksainus, 1902 - Two Pairs and The One
• Vanad ja noored, 1903 - Olds and Youngs
• Raha-auk, 1907 - The Money-Hole
• Uurimisel, 1907 - Be In Prospect
• Pikad sammud, 1908 - Long Steps
• Üle piiri, 1910 - Over The Border
• Noored hinged, 1909 - Young Spirits
• Poiss ja liblik, 1915 - The Boy and The Butterfly
• Keelest ja luulest, 1915 - About Language and Poetry
• Kärbes, 1917 - The Fly
• Varjundid, 1917 - The Shapes of The Shadows
• Sõjamõtted, 1919 - Thoughts of War
• Juudit, 1921 - Judith
• Kõrboja peremees, 1922 - The Master of The Kõrboja
• Pöialpoiss, 1923 - The Midget
• Sic Transit, 1924
• Tõde ja õigus I-V, 1926-33 - Truth and Justice, Vol.1-5
• Meie rebane, 1932 - Our Fox
• Elu ja armastus, 1934 - The Life and The Love
• Ma armastasin sakslast, 1935 - I Loved a German
• Kuningal on külm, 1936 - The King Is Cold
• Hiina ja hiinlane, 1938 - China and a Chinese
• Põrgupõhja uus Vanapagan, 1939 - The Misadventures of The New Satan (or: Devil with a False Passport or: The New Devil of Hellsbottom (the latter being a literal translation from Estonian))
• Miniatures, 1977
• Kogutud teosed, 1977-1993 (18 vols.) - Collected Works

External links

• Who is A.H.Tammsaare?
• Tammsaare Museum in Kadriorg
• Central bank website - shows the 25-Kroon
  Estonian kroon
  In 1992, coins were introduced in denominations of 5, 10, 20 & 50 senti, as well as 1 kroon. The 1 kroon was struck in cupronickel, the others in aluminum-bronze. However, in 1997, nickel-plated steel 20 senti were introduced, followed by aluminum-bronze 1 kroon in 1998. 5 senti coins were not...
  
  banknote, with its depiction of Tammsaare and his farm
• A.H.Tammsaare tee - street in Tallinn named after A.H.Tammsaare