Matthias Johann Eisen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matthias Johann Eisen | |
|---|---|
 Matthias Johann Eisen photographed c. 1920-1930 by Heinrich Riedel | |
| Born | September 28, 1857 |
| Died | August 6, 1934 (aged 76) Tartu, Estonia |
| Resting place | Maarja Cemetery, Tartu |
| Citizenship | Estonia |
| Education | University of Tartu (1885) |
| Alma mater | University of Tartu |
| Occupations | Folklorist, clergyman, ethnologist, university teacher |
| Employer | University of Tartu |
| Known for | Systematic collection of Estonian folklore |
| Notable work | Esivanemate varandus [Ancestral Treasure] Eesti mütoloogia [Estonian Mythology] |
| Awards | |
Matthias Johann Eisen (also published under the name M. J. Eisen; 28 September 1857 – 6 August 1934) was a prominent Estonian folklorist and clergyman whose life's work centred on the preservation of national heritage.[1]
He was a prolific translator and poet. Eisen’s most enduring legacy lies in his massive effort to document Estonian folklore. He is best known for his thorough collection and systematic typology of Estonian folk tales, totaling over 90,000 pages. [1]
His work significantly influenced later Estonian literature and his folklore materials have been used by authors such as Andrus Kivirähk. He has also been described as the founder of Estonian science fiction.[2]
Eisen was born in Oese village, in Vigala Parish, Rapla County, Estonia to a schoolteacher. He pursued theological studies in Haapsalu and Pärnu before graduating from the University of Tartu in 1885.[1]
He was heavily influenced by his parents' nationalism and by Estonian nationalism that grew during the Estonian national awakening and the preservation of oral heritage. From a young age, he began contributing to the newspaper Perno Postimees as a student and became a dedicated member of the Estonian Students' Society and the Estonian Writers' Society.[1]
Eisen's literary and scholarly career began during his years as a student in Pärnu and Tartu. Alongside Jaan Jung, he was a proponent of the Estonian term for history (ajalugu), and he played a key role in promoting it during the 1870s.[1]
Career
He was ordained as a pastor in Lempaala, Ingria, in 1886. He served in Petrozavodsk and Kattila before moving to Kronstadt. There he served as a parish priest for the multi-ethnic St. Nicholas congregation in Kronstadt for over two decades.[1]
In 1913, he returned to Tartu. Although offered a position in Finland by the Finnish Literature Society in 1919, he chose to donate his folklore collection to the University of Tartu in exchange for a personal professorship. From 1920 to 1927, he served as a professor of folk poetry at the University of Tartu. In 1925, he helped establish the Academic Folklore Society and served as its long-term chairman. His academic contributions were later recognized with an honorary doctorate in theology from his alma mater in 1932.[1]
He was an honorary doctor of philosophy at the University of Helsinki (1927), an honorary doctor of theology at the University of Tartu (1932), and an honorary alumnus of the Estonian Students' Society (1930).[3][4]
