Enn Vaigur
Enn Vaigur (until 1936 Heinrich Lilienberg, 12 December 1910 – 21 August 1988) was a playwright.
Vaigur was born to a family with many children on Aruvälja farm at Padise, Harjumaa County. Until 1920, he studied at Ämari village school, from 1920–1924 at Padise primary school and from 1924–1926 at Vana-Võidu agricultural school. He worked as an office clerk and a construction worker in Harjumaa County and in Tallinn.
Vaigur attended courses for amateur theatre directors in Tallinn where he acquired basic skills in dramatic arts. He became a theatre enthusiast. Vaigur wrote popular plays, directed them and played on the stage. His first play with songs, Kraavihallid (‘Ditch Diggers’, 1935), was staged by nearly all professional theatres in the year it was published. The play about five optimistic vagabond workers brought a fresh vibe to the stage. The young author charmed with his immediacy and sincerity, vivid dialogue, scenes in a jolly mood, enjoyable energetic folksy characters. The critics were benevolent; their only reproach was compositional looseness. Until 1940, eight Vaigur’s plays were published in print, but none of them was as successful as the first.
During World War II, Vaigur was assistant to the director and actor Paul Pinna at the Estonian SSR National Art Groups in Yaroslavl. In 1943, he was sentenced to prison for ten year because of political accusations. Vaigur served his punishment at the prison camps of Kasakhstan.
After being released, he settled at Türi where he lived until his death. From 1956, Enn Vaigur began to publish plays again; they were widely played by country amateurs, rarer by professional theatres. In the later period, Vaigur also wrote more serious plays which reflected the dramatic recent history.
Vaigur has also written short prose. He has published two collections of short stories.
He was a member of the Estonian Writers’ Union from 1964.
Vaigur translated works of Russian playwrights (A. Arbuzov, M. Zarudny, A. Stein and others) into Estonian. His plays have been translated into Russian, Ukrainian and Lithuanian and have been staged in Latvia and Lithuania.
L. P. (Translated by I. A.)
Books in Estonian
Plays
Kraavihallid: kolmevaatuseline rahvatükk lauludega. Tallinn: Eesti Haridusliit, 1935. 165 lk.
Potilill ja karusammal: rahvatükk 4 vaatuses. Tallinn: Eesti Haridusliit, 1936. 115 lk.
Trump lamooriga: rahvatükk kolmes vaatuses, neljas pildis. Tallinn: Eesti Haridusliit, 1937.
Vallaslaps: näidend neljas vaatuses. Tallinn: Eesti Haridusliit, 1937. 127 lk.
Lõukoerte koopas: näidend kolmes vaatuses, neljas pildis. Tallinn: 1938. 84 lk.
Aadam ja Eeva; igapäevane lugu tavaliste inimeste elust viies pildis eelmänguga. Tallinn: Tarvik, 1939. 79 lk.
Paradiis põrgus: romantiline lugu lauludega neljas pildis. Tallinn: Tarvik, 1939. 96 lk.
Vilepuhuja: Nurme Mangala ja Enn Vaiguri laulumäng 4-s pildis. Tallinn: Autorikaitse Ühing, 1940. 68 lk.
Short stories
Koldne sügis. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1982. 71 lk.
Koduakendes kumab valgus. Tallinn: Eesti Raamat, 1985. 102 lk.