Linnar Priimägi
Linnar Priimägi (born 29 III 1954) is a critic, poet and translator.
Priimägi was born in Tallinn. He completed Tallinn Secondary School No. 42 in 1972. From 1972–1977, he studied Romance and Germanic languages at the Faculty of Philology at Tartu State University and graduated from it as a German philologist. Later he has defended a master’s degree in art history at the Estonian Academy of Arts and acquired a doctoral degree in psychology at Tallinn University. From 1977–1986, Priimägi worked at the culture department of the newspaper Edasi. From 1988–1990, he worked as the chief dramaturge of the Vanemuine theatre and from 1990–1993 as its artistic director. Priimägi has taught the German language and theory of literary criticism at the University of Tartu, history of philosophy at the Estonian Academy of Music, art history at the Estonian Institute of Law, cultural history, corporate identity design, propaganda techniques, stage direction, marketing and stylistics at Tallinn University. Until 2020, he was an associate professor at Tallinn University. In 2002 and 2003, Priimägi advised the Tallinn City Government on image creation. Priimägi is one of the founders of the Estonian Goethe Society. He has been a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union from 1985. His son is film critic Tristan Priimägi.
Linnar Priimägi made his debut as a poet and essayist in the student newspaper of Tartu State University and in the newspaper Edasi in the mid-1970s. Soon his bright and polemical essays attracted attention. A frequent theme in Priimägi’s poems is love; his verses mostly follow classical forms.
Linnar Priimägi has published numerous literary, art, theatre and film reviews. He has deepened the knowledge of European cultural history, emphasising the ideal of the universal spirit, using primarily Goethe, Hegel and Voltaire as examples. He has presented programmes on art history on television and participated as a cultural guide in travel broadcasts. Priimägi has performed as an actor in several film and theatre roles. A documentary film has been made about him — Mephistopheles (2020, director Manfred Vainokivi).
For the essay collection Luule ja tõde (‘Poetry and Truth’, 2019), Priimägi received the Literature Endowment Annual Award.
L. P. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Poetry
Kelle tee on varjul. Tallinn : Eesti Ekspressi Kirjastus, 2005. 120 lk.
Hilised sirelid: Nachlaß 1975–2020. Tallinn: EKSA, 2021. 135 lk.
Medeia. MEΔEIA. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2023. 47 lk.
Essays
Mälestusi Euroopast. Tallinn: Vagabund, 1995. 135 lk.
Kommentaarium: kultuurikommentaare aastaist 1994–1996. Tallinn: Perioodika, 1997. 151 lk.
Minu Goethe. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2018. 347 lk.
Luule ja tõde. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2019. 519 lk.
Inimese ilu: kümme esseed. Tartu: Ilmamaa, 2020. 158 lk.
Monographs
Klassitsism. I osa, Inimkeha retoorika klassitsistliku kujutavkunsti kaanonites: monograafia. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2005. 390 lk.
Klassitsism. II osa, Inimkeha retoorika klassitsistliku kujutavkunsti kaanonites: monograafia. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2005. Lk. 392–844 lk.
Klassitsism. III osa, Inimkeha retoorika klassitsistliku kujutavkunsti kaanonites: monograafia. Tallinn: Tallinna Ülikooli Kirjastus, 2005. Lk. 848–1242 lk.
Textbooks
Eesti keele ruunid: paarsada mõistatust, paar tuhat vastust: iseõpik edasijõudnutele.
Tartu : Ilmamaa, 2022. 252 lk.
Corporate identity design
Reklaamikunst. Tallinn: BNS-i kirjastus, 1998. 209 lk.
Reklaam & imagoloogia: mõistevara. Tallinn: Vara-abi, 2007. 62 lk.
Reklaam & propaganda: mõistevara. Tallinn: Vara-abi, 2008. 102 lk.
Reklaam & imagoloogia: mõistevara. Tallinn: Infotele, 2010. 152 lk.
Propaganda sõnastik. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2011. 341 lk.
Propagandasõda: teooria ja praktika. Tallinn: Eesti Keele Sihtasutus, 2015. 255 lk.
Miscellaneous
Inimese foto. Tallinn: Linnar Priimägi, 2018. 57 lk.
Minu sekundid: protokoll 2019. Tallinn: EKSA, 2020. 255 lk.