Eduard Bornhöhe | |
---|---|
Born |
Kullaaru, Governorate of Estonia, Russian Empire |
17 February 1862
Died | 17 November 1923 Tallinn, Estonia |
(aged 61)
Nationality | Estonian |
Eduard Bornhöhe (pen name), born Eduard Brunberg (17 February 1862 [O.S. 5 February 1862] in Kullaaru, Rakvere Parish, Lääne-Viru County — 17 November 1923 in Tallinn), was an Estonian writer.
Bornhöhe is generally considered a pioneer of the genre of Estonian historical novel, as the majority of his creations consist of romanticism-influenced historical adventure stories.
In 1893, the Russian Empire's censor prohibited publication of historical stories. This led to eventual withdrawal of Bornhöhe from writing. Notably, he didn't publish any books within the last twenty years of his life.
Since Bornhöhe's preferred topic was Estonia's ancient fight for freedom rather than more complex or more polemical subjects, Soviets generally found his writings useful, and presented them as examples of pre-Soviet patriotism. Vürst Gabriel ehk Pirita kloostri viimased päevad was made into a movie, the first part of Tallinna narrid ja narrikesed was repeatedly published and adapted for TV under Soviet occupation, and Bornhöhe's historical novelles were constantly in lists of mandatory reading in Soviet Estonian schools.