Marie Under
Marie Under was an Estonian poet. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 14 separate years.
Early life
Marie Under was born on 27 March 1883 in Reval, Estonia to school teachers Friedrich and Leena Under . She had two older siblings, Evangeline and Gottried and two younger, Berta, and Christfried. She attended a private German-language girls' school. After graduating, she worked as a salesclerk in a bookstore. In her free time, she wrote poetry in German. In 1902, she married an Estonian accountant, Carl Hacker. The couple had two children, Dagmar and Hedda, while living in Kuchino, a suburb of Moscow, Russia. However, in 1904, she fell in love with the Estonian artist Ants Laikmaa. Laikmaa convinced her to translate her poetry into Estonian and submitted her translated works to local newspapers.Return to Estonia
In 1904, under the pseudonym Mutti, Under had her first poem published in the newspaper Postimees.In 1906, Under returned to Tallinn. In 1913, she met Artur Adson, who became her secretary. He also compiled the first volumes of her published poetry. In 1924, Under divorced Carl Hacker and married Adson.
In May 1917, Under was one of the writers who formed the influential Siuru literary group with Adson, Friedebert Tuglas, August Gailit, Henrik Visnapuu, and later Johannes Semper. Under was the only woman of the group, where she was known as Printsess, in line with the nicknames given to each member. She was appointed the group's chairman, knowingly taking on a masculine title. The group was named after a fire-bird in Finnic mythology, and it was an expressionistic and neo-romantic movement that ran counter to the Young Estonia formalist tradition. Between 1917 and 1919, the group of poets published three volumes of poetry. In 1919, conflicts within the group led Visnapuu and Gailit to leave, while Johannes Vares and August Alle joined as new members.
Under published her first collection of poetry in 1917, shortly after forming Siuru, and a second edition was printed before the year's end. She then gained wider recognition, marking her entry into the literary scene. Notably, her work included explicit erotic poems, a departure from prevailing norms, which garnered attention and inspired subsequent writers.
Under was one of the founders of Estonian Writers' Union in 1922.
In the 1920s, Under was a frequent visitor at the house of Igor Severyanin, a Russian poet, in the village of Toila, where she often was on holiday. Severyanin published a book of translations from Under. Severyanin did not speak Estonian and used word-by-word translations as a basis.
Life in exile
During World War II, Under and her family fled to Sweden in September 1944 to escape from the Soviet invasion and reoccupation of Estonia. They spent almost a year in a refugee camp until, in 1945, the family moved on to Mälarhöjden, a suburb of Stockholm, Sweden. Under lived there until her death on 25 September 1980. She was buried in the Skogskyrkogården cemetery in Stockholm. In January 2015, it was announced that she was to be reburied in Estonia. On 9 June 2016, Under and Adson were interred at Rahumäe Cemetery in Tallinn alongside her daughter Hedda Hacker and sister Berta.Translations
Under's work was translated into at least 26 languages. She is one of the best translated Estonian authors.- Russian by Igor Severyanin.
- Komi by Nina Obrezkova.
- Udmurt by Nadezhda Pchelovodova.
Style
Poetry collections
- 1917 – Sonetid
- 1918 – Eelõitseng
- 1918 – Sinine puri
- 1920 – Verivalla
- 1923 – Pärisosa
- 1927 – Hääl varjust
- 1928 – Rõõm ühest ilusast päevast
- 1929 – Õnnevarjutus
- 1930 – Lageda taeva all
- 1935 – Kivi südamelt
- 1942 – Mureliku suuga
- 1954 – Sädemed tuhas
- 1963 – Ääremail
- 1981 – ''Mu süda laulab''