August Alle

Born Aug. 31, 1890, in Viljandi; died July 8, 1952, in Tallin. Soviet Estonian writer. Member of CPSU from 1942. Studied at the Universities of Saratov and Tartu.

Alle’s first works were printed in 1911. In 1921 he published the collection Carmina barbata. He was one of the first Estonian writers to respond to the revolutionary events of 1917 in Petrograd. His satirical feuilletons and parodies ridiculed the Estonian bourgeoisie and the decadent culture of the West (for example, his collection The Lilac Elephant, 1923). He exposed German and Estonian fascism in the book Muddy Waves (1930) and especially in the collection Harsh Rhythms (1934). The most caustic of his epigrams, poems, and feuilletons were written during the Great Patriotic War. He was the editor of the magazine Looming from 1946 to 1952.