Gustav Suits

Gustav Suits (30 November [O.S. 18 November] 1883 in Võnnu, Tartu County, Livonia – 23 May 1956 in Stockholm, Sweden) is considered one of the greatest Estonian poets. He was also an early leader of the literary movement group Noor-Eesti (Young Estonia).

Childhood and Education

Suits was born in the parish of Võnnu to a teacher. In 1895, Suits moved to Tartu, Estonia to study at the Alexander Gymnasium. Suits so enjoyed this bustling university town and its intellectual centers that he became determined to become a part of its literary society. By the time he was 16 years old, the newspaper Uus Aeg (New Time) published his first critical essay. In 1899, the newspaper published his first poem, Water Lilies.

Literary career

In 1901, Suits began spending his summers tutoring in the German and French languages. In the same year, he founded the literary society "Friends of Literature" (Kirjanduse Sõbrad), a group that included Anton Hansen Tammsaare, who was to become Estonia's greatest novelist. The society published a journal called "Rays" (Kiired).