Metsanurk, Mait

(pseudonym of Eduard Hubell). Born Nov. 7 (19), 1879, in Tartu District; died Aug. 21, 1957, in Tallinn. Soviet Estonian journalist and writer.

Metsanurk was the son of a peasant. He began publishing in 1904. In his first novel, Villem From Vahesaare (separate edition, 1909), and in the novel The Slaves (1912), Metsanurk denounced social injustice. The novel Red Wind (1928; Russian translation, 1960) portrays the class struggle. In the 1930’s, during a period of political reaction, Metsanurk’s social criticism became less noticeable. He published the historical novels On the Umera River (1934; Russian translation, 1964) and The Smouldering Fire (1939) and the anticlerical novel The Called and the Chosen (1937). The novel Summer Solstice (1957) depicts the life of Estonian village laborers on the eve of 1940. Metsanurk also wrote stories, plays, and literary criticism.