Gustav Adolf Day is celebrated in Tartu for the 13th time

On 4 November, the Department of Scandinavian Studies of the University of Tartu will organise the Day of Gustav II Adolf, this time dedicated to the poetry about Tartu in the Swedish era.

The Department of Scandinavian Studies has celebrated the Day of Gustav II Adolf annually since 2010 with an event that combines a presentation of academic research, music and poetry connected with Gustavus Adolphus’ time. This year, a large part of the event will focus on Swedish dramatist and poet Isaac Börk, who lived half of his life in Estonia.

In 1691, having moved to Tartu, Börk wrote a poem to mark the reopening of the university here. The poem graphically depicts how the town and university lay destroyed after the Russian invasion of 1656 and their resurrection from the ruins.

At the event held on 4 November at 16:00 in the lobby of the academic building at Lossi 3, Professor of Scandinavian Studies Daniel Sävborg will speak about Isaac Börk and his life and work. Songs and dialogues from Börk’s play “Lykkoprijs” will be performed for the first time since 1689. Also, Börk’s poems on Tartu, the river Emajõgi and the university, and war and peace are performed for the first time in Estonian translation. Swedish folk music and music for piano, flute and violin from the 17^th and 18^th centuries will be performed. Kaarina Rein, Research Fellow of the university library, will give a lecture on the disputations at the 17^th-century University of Tartu.

The lectures are in English, and the poems and the play are presented in Estonian.

The entrance is free. Everyone is welcome.

Further information: Daniel Sävborg, daniel.savborg@ut.ee, +372 5663 0038