Uno Laht, was an Estonian writer and poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 who wrote about the characteristics of everyday Soviet

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....

 life in poetry. Laht was a KGB

KGB

The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...

 officer who participated in arrests and deportations in 1940s.

Laht also used the palindromic pseudonym Onu Thal.

Laht's humorous satire

Satire

Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...

s were popular, notably in the collections Piimahambad in 1954 ("Milk Teeth") and its second version Piimahambad (plombeeritud) in 1956 ("Milk Teeth, Filled"). The subject matter includes "shock troops" (work battalions sent to pioneer new agricultural and industrial collective projects), cultural restriction, time wasting bureaucracy and other phenomena of Soviet life. Laht has published several books, mostly satirical poetry and humor. In 1975, Laht was awarded the Tuglas Prize for his short story We Good Fellows All Over the Earth. He has declared his political views changed at the restoration of the Estonian independence

Singing Revolution

The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events between 1987 and 1991 that led to the restoration of the independence of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania...

. He left the USSR Union of Writers

USSR Union of Writers

The USSR Union of Writers, or Union of Soviet Writers was a creative union of professional writers in the USSR. It was founded in 1932 on the initiative of the Central Committee of the Communist Party after disbanding a number of other writers' organizations: RAPP, Proletkult, and VOAPP.The aim of...

and rejected the status of a Soviet war veteran.

Laht died on September 24, 2008 after a lengthy illness.