Jüri Truusmann


Jüri Truusmann was an Estonian censor, writer, ethnographer, and linguist.

Early life and education

Jüri Truusmann was born in the village of Eristvere in Laiuse Parish, Tartu County, as the son of the tenant farmer Jüri Truusmann and Mai Truusmann on the Tõnnu farm. He received his primary education at the local Orthodox village school. Apparently, it was the local Orthodox curate Jaan Poska, who, noticing Truusmann's talent, recommended that the boy be sent to study at the. Poska himself had studied there, and later his four sons also studied there. From 1869 to 1879, Truusmann studied at the Riga Theological School and the Riga Theological Seminary. From Riga, he moved to Saint Petersburg, where he graduated with a master's degree in theology from the Saint Petersburg Theological Academy in 1883. In his master's thesis, he discussed the arrival of Christianity in the Baltics. After his studies, he briefly taught Latin at the Alexander Nevsky Theological Seminary in St. Petersburg. In addition to Latin, he also spoke Greek, Hebrew, Russian, German, French, and English.
His studies at the Riga Seminary and the St. Petersburg Theological Academy undoubtedly influenced Truusmann's worldview. The friendships and knowledge he gained there increased his sense of belonging to his Estonian compatriots and his negative attitude toward the dominance of the Baltic Germans.

Career

In 1885, Truusmann was appointed the censor for foreign and domestic literature in Tallinn. His task also included censoring the newspaper Valgus, and later also Teataja and. Truusmann belonged to the pro-Russian circle in Tallinn, being one of its leaders, and he had good relations with Governor-General. He also had good relations with the group known as the, especially Johann Köler.
As a censor during the height of Russification, Truusmann often had to make unpopular and controversial decisions. This meant balancing his official duties with supporting the national aspirations of his compatriots. Truusmann's work made him many enemies, especially among those whose works he had had to ban as a censor. The Estonian politician, poet, and translator Hans Pöögelmann later described him as "a watchdog of the tsarist government's policy in Estonian literature and social life, a snitch and a hellhound,... a rapist of literature." Those that did not have such experience with Truusmann knew him as a talented man and an active Estonian nationalist. According to, who served as the governor of Estonia, "he was an embarrassingly precise and careful person... one of the most active Estonian nationalists in the best sense of the word; he loved his people passionately and was burning with the desire to improve their situation, which was very difficult in many respects." At the same time, Truusmann favored the publication of the newspaper Teataja, edited by Konstantin Päts, despite opposition and reprimands from the Bureau of Censorship. Truusmann saw Teataja as a means of raising the national consciousness of Estonians and encouraging them to fight for their independence.
Truusmann served as a censor until 1907. The reason for his resignation from the position of censor is unknown, with claims of both voluntary resignation and dismissal.

Ethnographic and linguistic activities

Truusmann studied ethnography and Seto culture, Finno-Ugric languages, and place names, and he published several literary works and articles. In Russian-speaking circles, Truusmann's linguistic works on the study of place names in the Pskov Governorate, Vitebsk Governorate, and other governorates have attracted the most attention, and he is primarily known as a researcher of Estonian history, philology, and ethnography.
Truusmann's contribution as a researcher of Seto culture and as a champion of their cultural self-determination and independence is quite significant. According to Truusmann, the Setos are indigenous, a branch of ancient Baltic Finnic peoples that once inhabited the entire area beyond Lake Peipus and most of the Pskov Governorate, and he argued against the view that the Setos had ever migrated from the Estonian interior to their current location.
The core of Truusmann's comparative linguistic work was the belief in the relationship of Finno-Ugric languages to Indo-European languages, especially Latin and Greek. Truusmann also had a deep interest in Estonian folklore. He was the first to translate the Estonian national epic Kalevipoeg into Russian.

Membership in societies

Truusmann became a member of the Society of Estonian Literati in 1881. Already at that time, the work of the society was characterized by fierce ideological conflicts between its members, which worsened over time. In 1887, Truusmann was elected vice-president of the society, but he did not particularly participate in the society's activities. By 1893, when the president of the society was Truusmann's good friend Johann Köler, the conflicts within the society had reached their peak, and a petition was submitted to the governor with Truusmann's participation to close the society.
In the early years of this activity, Truusmann also belonged to the Riga Theological Seminary alumni society in St. Petersburg until he was expelled from it by the society's court of honor in 1887 for a pro-Russian article in a Russian religious magazine.
He was also an honorary member of the and a member of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society.

Later activities

Truusmann spent the last years of his life withdrawn from public life, initially living with relatives in Laiuse parish in Tartu County, and later at Pskov-Caves Monastery, where he was the monastery's librarian, continuing his writing and research work. To the dismay of many, Jüri Truusmann was one of three men to receive a pension from the Estonian state. Despite this, he lived a rather modest, almost monastic life. Truusmann died at the Pskov-Caves Monastery and is buried in the cemetery of Forty Martyrs of Sebaste Church in Pechory.

Family

Jüri Truusmann's father Jüri Truusmann Sr. was a tenant farmer, formerly also a municipal judge and councilor, and was a convert to Orthodoxy. His mother Mai was a Lutheran. He had three brothers and three sisters. His brother Mart Truusmann was an Orthodox. His brother Jaan Truusmann was an Orthodox school teacher, merchant, farmer, beekeeper and trout breeder, and public figure. The third brother, Mihkel Truusmann, was a farmer and beekeeper.
Jüri Truusmann married Aleksandra Troitskaya, the daughter of the Orthodox priest Pavel Troitski. His son was a school teacher and lecturer, and for a short time also the director of the high school in Pechory.
The Orthodox high priest Juhan Rehemaa was his cousin. On his mother's side, the Orthodox priest and bishop was also a relative.

Awards and recognitions

Works

Books

  • Введение христианства в Лифляндии
  • Новейшие религиозные движения в Эстляндии
  • Финские элементы в Гдовском уезде Санкт-Петербургской губернии
  • Калевич. Древняя эстонская сага в 20 песнях.
  • Начало и распространение в древности православия между финскими племенами: К 900-летию крещения Руси
  • Чудские письмена
  • Этимология местных названий Псковского уезда
  • Этимология местных названий Витебской губернии
  • Чудско-литовские элементы в Новгородских пятинах. Часть I. Пятины Водьская, Деревская и Шелонская
  • Древнѣйшая ливонская хроника и ея авторъ
  • Летто-Славянск. элементы въ Этрускихъ надписяхъ

Articles

  • "О месте Ледового побоища". Журнал министерства народного просвещения, 1884, 231: 44–46
  • "Ложи сына Калева". Эстляндские губернские ведомости Nov. 19, 1887, 44: 20–21
  • "Vana Eestlaste ja Liivlaste nimed". Oma Maa Feb. 15, 1889, 2: 107–108
  • "Полуверцы Псково-Печорского края". Живая старина, 1890, 1: 31–62
  • "Eesti muinasjut Ruurikest, Sineussist ja Truworist". Valgus Sept. 5, 1890, 37: 2–3
  • "О происхождении Корси ". Живая старина, 1893, 1: 64–91
  • "Двина-река". Живая старина, 1893, 1: 135
  • "О происхождении названия г. Пскова". Живая старина, 1894, 1: 120–122
  • "О происхождении названия г. Изборска и древнего населения его окрестностей". Живая старина, 1894, 3–4: 549–554
  • "Исакскіе полувѣрцы вь Зстляндской губерніи". In: Временник Эстляндской губернии, 2, Tallinn, 1895
  • "О происхождении псково-печорских полуверцев". Живая старина, 1897, 1: 37–47
  • "Tallinna nimed". Vaba Maa Feb. 9, 1923, 33: 4
  • "Wene=Setu wahekord ajalooandmetel". Päevaleht Jun. 27, 1924, 169: 5
  • "Mälestused Tõnis Waresest". Õigus 1925, 7: 163–166
  • "Kui wana wõib olla Eesti keel?". Postimees Oct. 26, 1925, 290: 2