Marie Under

Sixteen times nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Marie Under remains a significant figure in Estonian poetry. Born in 1883 in Tallinn, she began her writing career in German before transitioning to Estonian at the suggestion of artist Ants Laikmaa. Her work evolved from sensory observations of the physical world toward existential themes, isolation, and eventually deeper existential concerns.

Early Development and Literary Beginnings

The daughter of teachers Friedrich and Leena Under, she attended a private German-language girls' school and initially worked as a bookstore clerk. In 1902, she married accountant Carl Hacker and relocated to Kuchino, Russia, where she had two children, Dagmar and Hedda. Her literary path shifted in 1904 after meeting Ants Laikmaa, who encouraged her to translate her German verse into Estonian. That same year, she published her first poem in the newspaper Postimees under the pseudonym Mutti.

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The Siuru Movement and Recognition

Returning to Tallinn in 1906, she became a central figure in the literary landscape. In 1917, she helped establish the expressionistic Siuru group, serving as its chairman and adopting the title Printsess. The group, which included Artur Adson, Friedebert Tuglas, August Gailit, and Henrik Visnapuu, prioritized neo-romantic themes. Under achieved prominence with the 1917 publication of her first poetry collection, followed by a second edition later that year. Her inclusion of explicit erotic subject matter broke contemporary norms, establishing her influence on the subsequent generation of writers.

Exile and Later Years

In 1944, Under and her family fled to Sweden to avoid the Soviet occupation of Estonia. After spending a year in a refugee camp, she settled in the Stockholm suburb of Mälarhöjden. She continued her literary output until her death in 1980. Originally interred at Skogskyrkogården in Stockholm, her remains, alongside those of her husband Artur Adson, daughter Hedda, and sister Berta, were moved to the Rahumäe Cemetery in Tallinn in 2016.