Homme de lettres. Juhan Luiga 150

Näitus „Kuhu teie lähete, kuhu lähete teie kõik?!...” TÜ raamatukogu 3. korrusel 31.03.2023–31.05.2023

Abstract

Homme de lettres. Juhan Luiga 150

Juhan Luiga (1873–1927) was the first Estonian doctor of psychiatry (1904), who was in high demand among his patients. However, he was far better known as a public figure and a writer with a sharp pen, whose opinions on both current and eternal topics quite often appeared in the columns of several different newspapers and magazines. Luiga’s opinions were either supported or condemned, but they rarely failed to open a new public debate.

After Luiga’s death in 1927, the Estonian cultural public missed him so much that the publication of books of his collected writings began as early as 1934. Also in 1995, when the monumental book series „Estonian Thought” (currently more than 170 volumes) was started, gathering and publishing the most valuable part of the Estonian intellectual heritage throughout the ages, it was decided to dedicate its opening volume to Juhan Luiga’s legacy (Rebellion and mental illness, Tartu, 1995).

Luiga’s forthright views, but even more his courage of thought and proud self-respect, seemed to be so dangerous to the Soviet occupation authorities, who annexed Estonia after World War II, that his works were immediately included in the list of prohibited literature, where they remained until the collapse of the empire. Today’s equivalent of Luiga’s role as an extremely active speaker in the press would probably be an opinion leader and a blogger, although many of the latter do not have the same extensive and deep education.

I have heard much about Luiga from my mother, his figure has been with me since my earliest childhood memories. The exhibition was based on the collections of the UT Library and my personal collection, which includes, for example, Nikolai Triik’s portrait of Luiga and an inkpot, used by Luiga a century ago.