Hendrik Saar
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Hendrik Saar | |
|---|---|
 Hendrik Saar as a clown at the Arena circus | |
| Born | March 7, 1893 |
| Died | 1944 (aged 49–50) |
| Occupations | Journalist, caricaturist, playwright, and clown |
Hendrik Saar (pseudonyms Kivilombi Ints[1] and Sulgnokk;[2] March 8, 1893 – 1944) was an Estonian journalist, caricaturist, playwright, and clown.
Saar was born in Laatre parish[1] in the Põhja-Ruhja district of Valmiera County. He was the son of Villem Saar (1850–?) and Ann Saar (née Ilves, 1865–1954).
Career
In addition to working as a journalist, cartoonist, playwright, and clown, Saar also performed as a cathedral singer and stage actor. He translated operetta texts and theater jokes, and he staged his own plays. In 1919, together with Gori, he started publishing the humor magazine Sipelgas. He also served as the editor of several other humor magazines in Tallinn—Vana Meie Mats (1919), Meie Mats (1920–1921), Kodanik Mats (1920s), and Naljaleht (1929–1930)—and of the film magazine Kino-Film (1927–1928) and the erotic magazine Nauding (1931). In addition, he published six issues (which were confiscated) of the serialized novel Tallinna saladused (Tallinn Secrets, 1926–1927) and continued from February 1927 with the title Uued Tallinna saladused (New Tallinn Secrets), which was published in 18 issues.[3]
Because Saar was not accepted as an actor in other theaters, he created his miniature theater Illusioon to parody "real art."[4] In 1930, he had a supporting role in the film Kuldämblik (The Golden Spider), in which he played a musician.[5]
Arrest and disappearance
After the outbreak of German–Soviet War in 1941, Saar published a column about Adolf Hitler in the newspaper Sirp ja Vasar.[6] Presumably because of the accompanying cartoons, he was arrested in 1942 by the German occupation authorities. He was last seen cleaning the streets of Tallinn in the spring and summer of 1944 in a labor column of prisoners.[7]