Hans Pöögelmann
Hans Pöögelmann (30./18. XII 1875 – 27.I 1938) was a revolutionary who fought for Estonian’s annexation by the Soviet Union. He wrote mainly political literature and poetry.
He was born in Viljandi county. He studied at Tuhalaane, Paistu and the Alexander School in Põltsamaa. He worked as a teacher and a postal official, then as a journalist at the Postimees newspaper. He had a geographically extensive and colourful life. At the beginning of the 20th century he was a tutor in Samara in Russia for some time, and then worked in the editorial office of the Tallinn journal Teataja. In 1903 he moved to Leipzig, where he studied at a commercial institute and attended lectures at the University of Leipzig. In Germany he came into closer contact with the works of Karl Marx and became a convinced Marxist and revolutionary. Coming to Estonia in 1906 he joined the revolutionary movement, and became a member of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party. He worked for a while in the editorial offices of Teataja, as a lecturer in Nizhni Novgorod, and thereafter in the offices of the journals Sõnumed and Hommik in Estonia. From the autumn of 1907 he lived in exile in Helsinki, London and Paris, where he attended lectures at the Sorbonne. The next year he returned to his homeland, and after being arrested he was exiled to Narym in Siberia. In 1911 he escaped and travelled to the USA, where, among other things, he edited the Estonian-language leftist newspaper Uus Ilm (‘New World’) from 1911 to 1917. After returning to Estonia he worked in the editorial offices of left-wing newspapers; he was a member of the Estonian Soviet Executive Committee. During the German occupation in 1918 he went to Russia. He was a participant in the Estonian Provisional Revolutionary Committee set up in Petrograd, and the Soviet of the Commune of the Working People of Estonia declared in Narva in 1918. He remained in Soviet Russia, participating in the formative congress of the Comintern in 1919; in the early nineteen-twenties he was on its executive committee, and from 1924 to 1928 on its International Control Commission. From 1920 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Estonian Communist Party. From 1923 to 1938 he lived and worked in the USSR. He worked as a lecturer and edited various publications, translating Marxist literature into Estonian. In the Stalinist repressions of the late nineteen-thirties in Soviet Russia he was arrested and killed. He was buried in St. Petersburg [Leningrad].
The first poems by one of the ideologues of the Estonian revolutionary movement appeared in the newspaper Sakala in 1897-1898. Poetry was also published in the album Kiired (‘Rays’) I and II (both 1901). He began with realistic poems typical of their time; acquaintance with Marxism changed the themes of his poetry fundamentally, bringing in the class struggle. The poetry written in the Soviet period is striking for its negative attitude to the Republic of Estonia. His poetry is collected in the volumes Luuletused (‘Poems’, 1957) and Üleshüüe (‘Outcry’, 1988). He translated several revolutionary songs into Estonian, among them The Internationale and The Marseillaise.
As a commentator he dealt with economic questions from a Marxist viewpoint (for example Majandusteaduse õpetus – ‘Lessons in economics’, I and II, 1907-1908) and revolutionary events and the class struggle, for example Klassivõitluse ajalugu (‘History of the Class Struggle’, 1929), Marx ja marksism Eestis (‘Marx and Marxism in Estonia’, 1933), Enamlus ja vähemlus Eestis 1905. a. (‘Bolshevism and Menshevism in Estonia in 1905’, 1933). He also published literary criticism on a Marxist basis in the collection Kirjanduslikult rindelt (‘From the Literary Front Line’, 1933). His commentaries are gathered in Valitud teosed (‘Selected works’ I – V, 1974-1982).
A. K. (Translated by C. M.)
Books in Estonian
Poetry
H. Rooskaja, Jämedad jooned. Tallinn: Mõte, 1910, 32 lk.
Kevadetuuled. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1926, 120 lk.
Neile, kes „langesid võitluses vendade eest“. Moskva, Leningrad: Välismaatööliste Kirjastusühisus NSV Liidus, 1936, 43 lk.
Luuletused. Tallinn: Eesti Riiklik Kirjastus, 1957, 220 lk.
Üleshüüe. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1988, 157 lk.
Stories
Viletsuse ohver: jutustus rahva elust. Jurjev: J. Tõnnishof ja T. Kukk, 1900, 42 lk.
Non-fiction
Majandusteaduse õpetus. Peterburi: Edu, 1907-1908, 459 lk.
J. Vinnaja, Palgatööline ja elu-ülespidamine. Tallinn: Puidutööliste ühisus, 1908, 68 lk.
J. Vinnaja, Proletariat ja haigus. Tallinn: Töö, 1908, 31 lk.
Alkoholismus kui ühiselu paise. Tartu, 1912, 130 lk.
Asutav Kogu ja rahvavalitsus. Tallinn: Edasi, 1917, 32 lk.
Tumedatel tundidel…: mõtisklus. Tallinn: Tapper, 1917, 15 lk.
Vaba Eesti: Märgukiri Eesti Asutava Kogu valijatele. Tallinn: 1917/1918, 32 lk.
Eesti tulevik. Peterburi: Venemaa Kommunistilise (enamlaste) Partei Eesti Osakondade Keskkomitee, 1918, 32 lk.
Karl Marxi mälestuseks 1818-1918. Peterburi: Venemaa Kommunistiline (enamlaste) Partei Eesti Osakondade Keskkomitee, 1918, 32 lk.
Mis vaheajal sündis: teejuhiks sõjavangist tagasitulijatele. Peterburi: Venemaa Kommunistiline (enamlaste) Partei Eesti Osakondade Keskkomitee, 1918, 32 lk.
Mõned põhijooned majanduslise elu korraldamiseks Eesti töörahva nõukogude vabariigis. Peterburi: Kommunistilise partei Eesti kk. Venem. Büroo, 1919, 29 lk.
Ääremärkused Venemaa Kommunistilise Partei programmi juure. Peterburi: Kommunistilise Partei Eesti Keskkomitee Venemaa büroo, 1919, 11 lk.
Ühtlane elamisraha: üks kommunismuse nurgakividest. Peterburi: Eesti Töörahva Kommuuna kultuura ja ariduse valitsus, 1919, 14 lk.
1871-1921: Pariisi Kommuuna 50-ks aastapäevaks. Peterburi: Eestimaa Kommunistilise Partei keskkomitee, 1922, 48 lk.
Sini-must-valge lipu all. Peterburi: Kom. Internats. Eesti Sektsioon, 1923, 48 lk.
Viktor Kingissepp: elu ja tegevus. Peterburi: Kommunistilise Internatsionaali Eesti osakond, 1923, 63 lk.
Ferdinand Lassalle: 11.4.1825-31.8.1864. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1925, 30 lk.
Klassivõitluse ajalugu: lühike kokkuvõte. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1928, 175 lk.
Majandusline kriis Eestis. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1932, 57 lk.
Enamlus ja vähemlus Eestis 1905. a. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1933, 83 lk.
Kirjanduslikult rindelt. Leningrad: Külvaja, 1933, 111 lk.
Kaks aastat faschistlikku diktatuuri Eestis. Moskva, Leningrad: Välismaatööliste Kirjastusühisus NSV Liidus, 1936, 107 lk.
1917. aasta revolutsioon Eestis. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1965, 64 lk.
Selected works
Valitud teosed 1. kd. 1895-1917. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1974, 604 lk.
Valitud teosed 2. kd. 1917-1919. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1975, 412 lk.
Valitud teosed 3. kd. 1919-1925. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1976, 652 lk.
Valitud teosed 4. kd. 1925-1932. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1980, 442 lk.
Valitud teosed 5. kd. 1933-1937. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1982, 488 lk.
About Hans Pöögelmann
E. Plotnik, Hans Pöögelmann 1: elu ja tegevus 1875-1919. Monograafia. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1965, 351 lk.
E. Plotnik, Hans Pöögelmann 2: elu ja tegevus 1919-1938. Monograafia. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1975, 369 lk.
