Ado Grenzstein
Ado Grenzstein | |
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| Born | February 5, 1849 Vooru, Kreis Fellin, Estonia |
| Died | April 20, 1916 (aged 67) Menton, France |
| Occupations | Journalist, writer, and teacher |
| Relatives | Tõnis Grenzstein |
Ado Grenzstein, pseudonym A. Piirikivi (5 February 1849 – 20 April 1916) was an Estonian journalist, writer, and teacher.
In 1881, Grenzstein founded the Olevik weekly which became one of the most popular Estonian-language newspapers in what is now Estonia (then part of the Russian Empire) by the end of the 19th century. In his words, the purpose of the newspaper (Olevik) was to "wean the readership, mostly Estonian farmers, away from the 'firebrands and madcaps' who edited Sakala" (a major competing Estonian newspaper at the time).[1]
Grenzstein soon broke with the Estonian nationalist movement and became first an apologist, then a proponent, of the newly launched Russification campaign by Alexander III of Russia (the reigning Emperor from 1881 until his death in 1894). Later on, the views expressed by Grenzstein in his publications became openly anti-Estonian — in his opinion the Estonian people were destined to rapid assimilation and the inevitable disappearance of the Estonian nation probably "would be of no consequence to mankind".[2] His views have been characterized as "national nihilism".[3]
In 1901, Grenzstein left Estonia, moving first to Dresden, Germany. He later settled in, and spent the last years of life in Paris, France.[4]
As a newspaper editor Ado Grenzstein coined some new Estonian-language words out of nothing (see ex nihilo lexical enrichment). For example, he introduced neologisms such as kabe 'draughts, checkers' and male 'chess',[5] which are by now part of standard Estonian vocabulary.
His brother was the Estonian painter Tõnis Grenzstein.
References
- ^ Kirby, David (15 July 2014). The Baltic World 1772-1993: Europe's Northern Periphery in an Age of Change. Routledge. p. 197. ISBN 978-1-317-90218-8.
- ^ "Kiusaja Grenzstein by Hent Kalmo". Archived from the original on 2015-02-03. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ^ "Venestamine Eestis 1880-1917. Dokumente ja materjale" (PDF). gbv.de. Tallinn. 1997. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Salupere, Malle (2005). Tartu (Dorpat): eine tausendjährige junge Kulturstadt (in German). Tartu University Press. p. 99. ISBN 978-9949-11-072-8.
- ^ Ghil'ad Zuckermann (2003) Language Contact and Lexical Enrichment in Israeli Hebrew. Palgrave Macmillan, ISBN 978-1403917232, p. 149.
External links
- Ado Grenzstein at ESBL (in Estonian)
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