Peeter Olesk

Peeter Olesk (25 December 1953 – 25 November 2021) was a literary scholar and politician.

Olesk was born and attended school in Tallinn and graduated from Tartu State University as an Estonian philologist. He worked as a teacher, as an editor in the publishing house Eesti Raamat, in the Estonian Literary Museum, being its director from 1990–1993, and as a lecturer at the University of Tartu. Olesk was also the director of the University of Tartu Library from 1995–1999, a member of the General Committee of Estonian Citizens, Tartu City Council and the 9th Parliament of Estonia, Minister of Population and Minister of Culture and Education, and advisor to the Rector of the University of Tartu and the Estonian University of Life Sciences. Olesk was a member of the Estonian Students’ Society, the Council of the National Opera, the Board of Elders of the Estonian Defence League, the Estonian Literary Society and, from 1986, of the Estonian Writers’ Union. Olesk was awarded the Order of the Defence Forces of Estonia, the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class, (2001), was elected an honorary member of the Estonian Literary Society and an honorary citizen of the city of San Bernardino in California, USA. His wife was literary scholar Sirje Olesk (born 1954).

Olesk published articles on literary issues as early as in his school days. From the mid-1970s, he was a prolific and versatile columnist and critic, and later a lecturer. Olesk’s writings stand out for their erudition, factual accuracy and firm judgments. He compiled, for example, Gustav Suitsu autobiograafilisi märkmeid (‘Gustav Suits’s Autobiographical Notes’, 1987) published in the Litteraria series of source materials of Estonian literary history. Together with Hando Runnel, he compiled the collection of G. Suits’s articles Vabaduse väraval (‘At the Gate of Freedom’) published in the series Eesti mõttelugu (‘History of Estonian Thought’) in 2002. He gathered the articles and reviews by Karl Muru, a poetry researcher and long-time head of the Department of Estonian Literature at the University of Tartu into the collection Luuleseletamine (‘Poetry Explanation’, 2001). A collection of Paul Ariste’s articles compiled by Olesk, Sõnalaenulõbu (‘The Fun of Borrowing Words’, 2010), was published in the series Eesti mõttelugu. He also edited and wrote the afterword for P. Ariste’s Vadja päevikud 1942–1980 (‘Votic Diaries’) published in the Litteraria series in 2005. In addition, he wrote afterwords or forewords for several books, for example: Harald Peep’s Nii et suled lendavad (‘Ruffling the Feathers’, 2001), Georg Julius von Schultz-Bertram’s Balti idealisti kirjad emale (‘The Baltic Idealist’s Letters to His Mother’, published in the series Eesti mõttelugu in 2004), Rein Veidemann’s Eesti kirjanduse mõte (‘The Idea of Estonian Literature’, 2021), Marju Lepajõe’s Roomlaste taltsutamine (‘The Taming of the Romans’, 2011), Karl August Hindrey’s novel Aovalged aknad (‘Windows at Dawn’, 1994), Aarne Vinkel’s August Mälk: ülevaade elust ja loomingust (‘August Mälk: an Overview of His Life and Creation’, 1997) and Rudolf Põldmäe’s Vennastekoguduste kirjandus (‘Literature of Moravian Brethren’, published in the series Eesti mõttelugu in 2011). Various essays and articles by Olesk himself have been gathered into the collection Filoloogia tõeline tähendus (‘The True Meaning of Philology’, 2008).

Colleagues, friends and companions’ reminiscences about Peeter Olesk have been published in the book Meie Peeter (‘Our Peeter’, 2022).

A. K. (Translated by I. A.)

Books in Estonian

Filoloogia tõeline tähendus. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2008, 455 lk.