Madis Kõiv facts for kids

Madis Kõiv (born December 5, 1929, died September 24, 2014) was a very talented person from Estonia. He was known as a writer, a philosopher (someone who thinks deeply about life), and a physicist (a scientist who studies how the world works). Madis Kõiv was born and passed away in Tartu, Estonia.

Madis Kõiv's Early Life and Studies

Madis Kõiv went to school in Tartu after World War II. In the early 1950s, he finished his studies. He earned a special degree in nuclear physics, which is a part of science that looks at the tiny parts inside atoms.

After his studies, Kõiv worked as a scientist. He also taught at a university as a lecturer. He continued this work until 1991.

Becoming a Playwright

Madis Kõiv always loved literature and writing stories. For a long time, he wrote just for fun. But in the 1950s, he started to join groups of writers in Estonia. His first works that were published were written with his friends from these groups.

Writing Under a Different Name

For several years, Madis Kõiv wrote under a pseudonym. This means he used a different name, like a secret identity, for his writing. His first published play was called Küüni täitmine, which means Filling the Hay Barn. He wrote this play with Hando Runnel in 1978. Madis Kõiv used his pseudonym, Jaanus Andreus Nooremb, for this play. It was first performed on stage in 1999 and was very successful.

Collaborations and Solo Works

Kõiv also wrote two pieces with another writer named Vaino Vahing. One was a play called Faehlmann. Keskpäev. Õhtuselgus. This translates to Faehlmann. Noon. Evening Clarity. They also wrote a dialogue novel together. A dialogue novel is a story told mostly through conversations between characters. This one was called Endspiel. Laskumine orgu. (Endspiel. Descent into the Valley.)

Towards the end of the 1990s, Madis Kõiv started publishing works he had written earlier for himself. He used his real name for these. He became one of the most important Estonian playwrights (people who write plays) of the 1950s and 1960s.

Awards and Recognition

In the early 1990s, Madis Kõiv started to become very famous. He won the Tuglas short story award twice. He won it in 1991 for his story Film and again in 1993 for The Life of an Eternal Physicus.

He also won the annual Estonian literary award three times.

• In 1991, he won for his play The Meeting.
• In 1995, he won for The Philosopher's Day and Return to Father.
• In 1999, he won for Scenes From the Hundred Years' War.

Madis Kõiv released only 22 of the plays he had written. He said that these published plays were about half of all the plays he had created.

Career as a Novelist

Madis Kõiv also wrote several novels. Novels are long stories, usually in book form. Two of his most famous novels are Widow and Aporia of Attica, Tragedy of Elea.

In 1996, he published a novel called Aken. He had actually written this book in the 1960s. However, it could not be published at that time because of strict rules about what could be printed during the Soviet occupation.

His Ideas on Philosophy

Madis Kõiv was a supporter of analytical philosophy in Estonia. This is a way of thinking that uses clear logic and careful language to understand problems. In 1991, he helped start the Seminar of Analytical Philosophy. This was a group where people could discuss these ideas.

His Memoirs

Madis Kõiv also wrote a series of memoirs called Studia memoriae. Memoirs are like personal stories about your life. However, Kõiv's memoirs were different from a typical biography. Instead of just telling facts about his life, they focused a lot on his own thoughts and feelings.

Sources

• Estonian Literary Magazine