Jaan Kaplinski facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jaan Kaplinski
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Jaan Kaplinski in May 2014
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| Born | 22 January 1941  |
| Died | 8 August 2021 (aged 80) |
| Website | http://jaan.kaplinski.com/index.html |
Jaan Kaplinski (born January 22, 1941 – died August 8, 2021) was a famous Estonian poet, philosopher, and cultural thinker. He was known for writing about big global topics and for supporting ideas that focus on fairness and freedom. He was also inspired by Eastern ways of thinking, like Taoism and especially Buddhism.
Kaplinski was born in Tartu, Estonia. He studied languages and how they work at the University of Tartu. He became an expert in French language in 1964. Later, he worked as a translator, someone who edits books, a sociologist (who studies how people live in groups), and an ecologist (who studies the environment) at the Tallinn Botanic Garden. He was even considered for the important Nobel Prize in Literature.
Contents
Kaplinski's Writings and Translations
Jaan Kaplinski wrote many books of poems, stories (called prose), and essays (short pieces of writing about a topic). He also translated many works from other languages into Estonian. These languages included French, English, Spanish, Chinese (like the famous Tao Te Ching), and Swedish (including poems by Tomas Tranströmer).
His own writings were translated into many languages around the world. These included English, Finnish, French, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch, and Japanese. His essays often explored interesting topics like environmental issues, how language works, old Chinese poems, different philosophies, Buddhism, and what it means to be Estonian.
Kaplinski also wrote some of his own poems in English and Finnish. In the 2000s, he started writing in Russian. His first collection of Russian poems, called White Butterflies of Night, won an award in Russia in 2014.
The Letter of 40 Intellectuals
Jaan Kaplinski was one of the people who started and signed a special document called the Letter of 40 intellectuals. This letter was signed by many well-known Estonian thinkers. It protested how the authorities were acting in Soviet-controlled Estonia at the time. Even though the letter wasn't openly against the government, it was never published in newspapers. Those who signed it faced problems from the authorities.
His novel, The Same River, which tells parts of his own life story, has been translated into English. In 1997, he received the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science for his literary achievements.
Kaplinski's Role in Politics
Jaan Kaplinski was a member of the Riigikogu, which is the Estonian parliament, from 1992 to 1995. He first joined as a candidate for the Estonian Centre Party. However, he soon became an independent member, meaning he didn't belong to any specific party. Later, starting in 2004, he became a member of the Estonian Social Democratic Party.
In the local elections in Tartu in 2005, he was a top candidate for the Social Democratic Party. He received many votes and was elected as a representative. Kaplinski also supported Toomas Hendrik Ilves when he ran for president.
Kaplinski's Family Life
Jaan Kaplinski's mother, Nora, was Estonian. His father, Jerzy Kaplinski, was a Polish professor at Tartu University. Sadly, his father was arrested by Soviet soldiers and died in a Soviet labor camp in 1945. As an adult, Kaplinski thought his father might have had some distant Jewish family.
Kaplinski was married to Tiia Toomet, who is a writer and runs the Tartu Toy Museum. They had three sons and one daughter: Ott-Siim, Lauris, Lemmit, and Elo-Mall. He also had another daughter, Maarja, from his first marriage to Küllike Kaplinski. Later, he had a long relationship with Anne Lill, an Estonian expert in classical languages and a translator. They had a son together, Märt-Matis Lill, who is a composer (someone who writes music).
Kaplinski's Lasting Impact
To honor Jaan Kaplinski, a small asteroid in space was named after him. It is called 29528 Kaplinski.
Poems by Jaan Kaplinski
- The East West Border...
- The Same Sea in Us All (Barbarian Press, 1985) (translated by the author with Sam Hamill)
- The Wandering Border (Copper Canyon Press, 1987) (translated by the author with Sam Hamill and Riina Tamm)
- Evening Brings Everything Back (Bloodaxe, 2004)
- Contributor to A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue between East and West (Gingko Library, 2019)
See also
In Spanish: Jaan Kaplinski para niños
