Anton Hansen Tammsaare

Anton Hansen Tammsaare married Amalie Käthe-Veltman on March 13, 1920. The couple had two children: a daughter, Rita, and a son, Erik.

He died on March 1, 1940, in Tallinn and was buried in the Forest Cemetery.

Anton Hansen Tammsaare was born on January 30, 1878, in Järvamaa, in the municipality of Albu, village of Vetepere, to Peter Hansen, a farmer, and his wife, Ann Hansen.

He was the fourth of the 10 children of his parents. His family belonged to an underprivileged background, but he managed to gather enough money to support his education.

He received his early education from the Little Mary Parish School. From 1898 to 1903, he studied in Hugo Treffneri secondary school, Tartu.

He worked as a journalist in Tallinn Journal editorial board between 1903 and 1905.

In 1907, he enrolled at the University of Tartu to obtain a law degree. But his studies were interrupted when he contracted tuberculosis in 1911 and left the university without completing his graduation.

Throughout his flourishing career, Anton Hansen Tammsaare published novels, short stories and plays along with biblical-philosophical miniatures and critical essays. He also wrote children’s stories and fairy tales influenced by Oscar Wilde and Eino Leino,

His earlier literary works include: ‘The Money-Hole’ (1907), ‘Be in Prospect’ (1907), ‘Long Steps’ (1908), ‘Young Spirits’ (1909), and ‘Over the Border’ (1910).

In 1918, after Estonia became independent, he moved to Tallinn where he wrote prose works based on the history and lives of the Estonian people. His works were very well received and he rose to prominence in the world of Estonian literature.

Between 1915 and 1920, he published works such as, ‘The Boy and the Butterfly’ (1915), ‘About Language and Poetry’ (1915), ‘The Fly’ (1917), ‘The Shapes of the Shadows’ (1917), and ‘Thoughts of War’ (1919).

In 1921, he wrote his first play titled ‘Judith’ based on the Old Testament, and binding together love and death, desire and cruelty, destiny and greed for power.

His most celebrated literary work is the collection of five volumes titled ‘Truth and Justice’ (1926–1933). It is a dissertation on the meaning of human life, and the possibility of the existence of truth and justice. It garnered much critical acclaim and is regarded as a masterpiece in world literature.