Harri Lehiste
Harri Lehiste (14 X 1931 – 19 VI 1984) was a journalist and humourist.
Lehiste was born in Lehtse parish, Harjumaa County, as the son of a farmer. He completed Kehra secondary school in 1952 and, from 1952–1957, studied Estonian philology at the University of Tartu. After graduation, he worked for the newspaper of the Rapla district for a year and participated in the activities of the Tallinn Young Authors’ Association, being its chairman for some time. From 1958 to the end of his life, he was chief editor of the Estonian satirical magazine Pikker.
Harri Lehiste was a member of the Estonian Association of Journalists and, from 1962, a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
Lehiste wrote more than a thousand satirical and humorous pieces on topical themes. These gained wide popularity. The author concentrates on a male citizen who, although loyal to the state, is still harassed by the rampant double-facedness of Soviet Estonian society. Lehiste has also written a comedy and compiled selections of Estonian humour in German and English.
Lehiste’s humour has been translated into German and Russian.
L. P. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Humour
Lõbustusmaks: följetone, humoreske, miniatuure. Tallinn: EKP Keskkomitee Kirjastus, 1964. 95 lk.
Võitlus müüriga. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1966. 160 lk.
Läbi lukuaugu. Tallinn: EKP Keskkomitee Kirjastus, 1974. 160 lk.
Valitud kaebused: vested ja humoreskid. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1990. 237 lk.
Harri Lehiste, Vladislav Koržets, Härra kodanik Männike. Tallinn: Sõnavald, 2020. 381 lk.