Marie Under:Marie Under: Why Didn’t She Receive aWhy Didn t She Receive a 

Nobel Prize?

Sirje Kiin PhDSirje Kiin, PhDKLENK 2011

St P t b Fl idSt. Petersburg, Florida

Marie Under1883‐1980

Education in GermanEducation in German

Writer Eduard VildeWriter Eduard Vilde

First marriage with Carl HackerFirst marriage with Carl Hacker

Five years in Moscow 1901‐1906Five years in Moscow 1901 1906

Artist Ants LaikmaaArtist Ants Laikmaa

Lover Artur Adson 1915Lover Artur Adson 1915

Writer Friedebert Tuglas 1917Writer Friedebert Tuglas 1917

Love‐triangle and love‐Sonnets

Artur Adson

Carl Hacker

Friedebert Tuglas

First fame and shameFirst fame and shame

Parodies

Literary group Siuru 1917‐1921Literary group Siuru 1917 1921

Gailit, Visnapuu, Semper, Adson, Under, Tuglas

Masterful ballads

European tours 1920s

Happy 1930s

Three occupations 1940‐1945Three occupations 1940 1945

Escape to Sweden 1944

“With Sorrowful Mouth” (1942)

Refugee‐camps in Sweden

• 10 month of• 10 month of 

sufferingsuffering

• 6 camps6 camps

• Gränna• Sigtuna

Under and Adson in exile home

Forbidden name in Soviet EstoniaForbidden name in Soviet Estonia

• Bourgeois nationalistg• Enemy of the nation• “Escaped Germans’ whore”scaped Ge a s o e• Burning books• Punished readersPunished readers• Political parodies and humiliations• Invitations to returnInvitations to return• Lost lamb?• From totally forbidden to partially forbiddenFrom totally forbidden to partially forbidden

Powerful impact three timesPowerful impact three times

• Sonnet`s sensual power and liberation afterSonnet s sensual power and liberation after WWI

• Ballads as a sign of high level Estonian culture• Ballads  as a sign of high level Estonian culture

1920s and 1930s

• Tragic exile poetry affirmed nation`s faith

and courage during and after WWIIg g

International fame in Frankfurt 1958

Poems Translated into 26 languages,Books into 13 languagesBooks into 13 languages

Esperanto 1929, 1988

Russian 1935, 1937, 2003, 2007 Finnish 1978, 1983

German 1949

English 1955

Czech 2003

Norwegian 2004g

Swedish 1963, 1970, 1988, 2007

French 1970

g

Udmurdi 2006

Mari 2006French 1970

Italian 1971Mari 2006

Komi 2008

Under as a candidate for theb l fNobel Prize for Literature

1945‐1974 nominated as a candidate 30 times1945 1974 nominated as a candidate 30 times

Who nominated:

f O l id S (20 i )• Professor Ants Oras, Florida, USA (20 times)

• Estonian PEN club (several times)

• Finnish PEN club (3 times)

• Finnish Writers UnionFinnish Writers Union

• Professor W.K.Matthews, London

Why not?Why not?

1 Small and difficult language1. Small and difficult language 2. Un‐translatable essence of her poetry – complexity of her style and poetic languagep g g

3. Questionable quality of translations (foreign Estonians or scientists not(foreign Estonians or scientists, not poets in the target language)

Why not (cont )?Why not (cont.)?

4 More novelists than poets receive4. More novelists than poets receive awards

5. Changes in European literature after World War IIWorld War II

6. Political reasons (Cold War, “neutrality” of Sweden)

International recongitionInternational recongition

• 1935 Lexicon The Who’s Who in Central and East1935 Lexicon The Who s Who in Central and East Europe (Zürich)

• 1937 honorary member of International PEN Club• 1963 honorary member of Finnish Writers Union• 1964 honorary member of Bavarian Academy of Arts• 1967 award of honor of United Poets Laureate• 1967 award of honor of United Poets Laureate International (Philippines) 

• 1971 Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century (New York)

• 1971 International “Who’s Who, 1971‐72”• 1971 “Who’s Who in Poetry” 1970 1971• 1971  Who s Who in Poetry  1970‐1971

Marie Under, Friedebert TuglasMarie Under, Friedebert Tuglas

Jaan Kross1927 20071927‐2007

Jaan Kaplinskiborn 1941

Becoming a Saint