Nikolai Päts

Poems

Nikolai Päts (5 September 1871 – 29 November 1940) was an Orthodox clergyman, social figure and man of letters.

He was born in Viljandi to the family of the building contractor Jakob Päts, studied at Tahkuranna Orthodox parish school, graduated from Riga Theological Seminary in 1894 and acquired the qualifications of an assistant priest and schoolteacher. At Riga Theological Seminary, Päts completed the full course in the humanities, philology, theology and pedagogy as well as a basic course in medicine. After graduating from the seminary with a first-degree diploma, he worked for ten years as a parish school teacher at Tännassilma in Viljandi County and in the town of Paide. In 1904–1918, Nikolai Päts was a priest in Räpina in Võru County, at the same time being an active figure in education and society and a promoter of local life. In 1914, he was elected provost of Võru and Valga Counties. In 1917–1918, he was a teacher at the Võru Boys’ Gymnasium, a member of the Võru County government and head of the education department.

From 1923, he was a teacher of religious instruction at the Girls’ Commercial Gymnasium in Tallinn and from 1924 at Tallinn Boys’ Secondary School of Science. From 1936, high priest Nikolai Päts was the head priest of the Alexander Nevsky congregation in Tallinn and the chairman of the Synod of the Estonian Apostolic Orthodox Church. Nikolai Päts’ brother Konstantin Päts was the President of the Republic of Estonia.

While studying in Riga, Päts became interested in literature. In Riga, he edited the Estonian seminarians’ handwritten magazine Nipitiri. In 1935, he published the poetry collection Valgeil öil. Lüürika ja eepika I (‘White Nights. Lyric and Epic Poetry I’), which contains several translations of Russian poetry, including the works of Pushkin and Lermontov. He has also published verse fairy tales for children, articles in magazines and religious education textbooks for schools.

Nikolai Päts was the editor of the magazine Elutõde and in 1920–1924 director of the National Library of Estonia. Under the pseudonym N.J.P., he published an article introducing Estonian literature in the magazine Zhivopisnoye Obozreniye in Russia in 1898. It is an extensive and expertly written overview of Estonian folklore and literature, which consists of three parts. The first part deals with folklore. The second part speaks about the emergence of Estonian literature and literature at the time of the national awakening. The third part of the article examines Estonian literature from the 1880s. It mentions the progress of journalism and lively translation activities.

L. P. (Translated by I. A.)

Books in Estonian

Poetry
Valgeil öil. Lüürika ja eepika. I. Tartu: Noor-Eesti, 1935, 189 lk.