Eduard Bornhohe
EstoniaBiography of Eduard Bornhöhe
Eduard Bornhöhe was an Estonian writer and novelist. He was born in Virumaa, in the manor of Kullaaru, to a barn supervisor. From 1872 to 1874, he studied at the V. Kentmann Primary School in Revel, and from 1874 to 1877, he attended the district school.
A Life of Travels and Professions
Bornhöhe's biography is filled with a list of jobs and cities where he lived, worked, and traveled during his journeys. He worked as a draftsman for land surveyors in St. Petersburg, as an apprentice in a trading firm in the same city, as an assistant teacher in Kaunas, and as a contributor to German newspapers in Revel. He was also a teacher in Stavropol and a private tutor in the Matsalu manor. It seems that his curiosity and passion for travel constantly led him elsewhere. He traveled to Tbilisi and Asia Minor, Germany and Poland, and embarked on a journey to Palestine, Egypt, Greece, and Italy. In 1888, as a mature individual, Bornhöhe passed his high school exams and enrolled in the University of Tartu to study philology, but had to interrupt his studies due to financial difficulties. He then took on a series of professions, including being a journalist and caricaturist in Berlin, a translator in the Tallinn District Court, and an archivist. His connection to the court would define his later career, as he passed away while serving as a magistrate in Tallinn.
Ballad of the Dagger - The Last Relic
Bornhöhe's literary work seemingly exists separately from his biography. He started writing at a very young age, much like his cousin Eduard Vilde. His first book was an adventure novel called "The Robber and the Landowner" (1878), which borrowed heavily from other authors. However, it was his next extensive work that brought him popularity. Choosing the rebellion of Estonian peasants against foreign feudal lords in the Night of Tartu in 1343 as the subject, Bornhöhe found a successful parallel to the sentiments prevailing in Estonia during the era of national awakening, when the novel was being written. The romantic glorification of patriotic struggle, sarcasm towards the conquerors, dynamic narrative, and noble central character made the novel "The Avenger" (1880) a seminal work in Estonian literature. His next two works are also historical novels: "Villu's Struggles" (1890) and "Prince Gabriel, or the Last Days of the Pirita Monastery" (1893). The latter, depicting events of the Livonian War in the second half of the 16th century, became particularly popular in our time thanks to the film adaptation "The Last Relic" (Tallinnfilm, 1969, directed by G. Kromanov). In the 1890s, when realism became the main method of Estonian literature, Bornhöhe finally incorporated his rich life experience into his works. His satirical stories about life in Tallinn were compiled into two books: "Tallinn Fools and Fooleries" (1892) and "Bukis" (1903). His travel memories were reflected in the travel notes "On the Paths of Pilgrims" (1899). Additionally, Bornhöhe worked on adaptations of well-known plots from world literature and translated from German and Russian. Some of his works have been published in Russian as "Historical Novels" (1954, 1961, 1969, 1972, 1984).
