Broken Link

Photo: Estonian Literary Museum Jaan Kross in 1967

Jaan Kross was born in Tallinn on February 19, 1920. In 1944, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tartu, and worked there as a lecturer of international law from 1944 - 1946. Being a devoted Estonian patriot, he was arrested by the Germans in 1944, but fortunately survived that experience. Then, two years later, Kross was arrested in Tartu by the Soviet authorities and sent to the Gulag. He spent about eight years in labour camps and internal exile in Siberia. In 1954, Jaan Kross returned to Estonia, where he devoted himself entirely to writing. The experience inspired him to write the novel Väljakaevamised (Excavations) in 1990. In some short stories he has portrayed life in the camp as well. The most famous of these is Halleluja! (Hallelujah!).
Kross was known for historical novels. His most translated novel is Keisri Hull (The Czar's Madman (1978)), a work that tells the story of a 19th century Baltic-German nobleman who tries to persuade the Russian czar to abolish serfdom and is imprisoned in a casemate as a traitor for his pains. Kross's novels and poetry, have been published in about 20 languages. His works have sold more than one million copies worldwide.

Photo by Turid Farbregd Jaan Kross with his wife Ellen Niit in 1985

Translators about Jaan Kross:

Ivo Iliste, the Swedish translator, has told of how, when he got his first Kross book, he read for ten hours at a stretch. He couldn't stop, and he realised: "It must be translated!" Merike Beecher-Lepasaar, an American translator, had the same experience with the enormous novel about Balthasar Rüssow. She says: "He could even describe newly-baked bread so vividly that I could smell it." At an early stage, Jaan Kross was translated into Hungarian and was met by an extremely positive reception there. His translator, Gábor Bereczki, has told of how Kross's plays have been performed at Hungary's most important theatres by leading actors, and he is still seen as one of Europe's very best authors. Kross's Lithuanian translator says: "He helped people to survive during the Soviet era."

In addition to being a prolific writer, Jaan Kross was also known as a translator. He translated mostly verse, including works by Shakespeare and Brecht.

Photo: Estonian Literary Museum Jaan Kross in 1990

In 1995, German President Roman Herzog awarded the Distinguished Service Cross to Jaan Kross for helping to develop relations between Germany and Estonia. Jaan Kross was the first Estonian to receive such an award after the restoration of Estonian independence. In 1996, he was awarded the I Class Order of the National Coat of Arms.

Photo: Estonian Literary Museum Jaan Kross on June 1, 1990, in Helsinki, Senat Square, given the honorary doctorate of Helsinki University

Jaan Kross died in Tallinn at the age of 87 on 27 December 2007. President Toomas Hendrik Ilves praised Kross as a preserver of the Estonian language and culture. "He was one of those who kept fresh the spirits of the people and made us ready to take the opportunity of restoring Estonia's independence", T.H. Ilves said.

Discovering the World

All people were born
By the blue sea.
All fathers
Are bent over their looms
Weaving the texture
Their children proceed.
All children run from the chatter of the loom
To watch on the coast of the blue sea,
With their toes in the water,
Ships vanishing into the horizon.
Because children must run there
And ships must vanish there,
And their toes must get wet.
And everyone gets under way
As everyone must set off.
Everyone
Some for the sake of all,
A few for the sake of many,
Each for their own good.
Because everyone should discover their own world.