JOHANNES SILVET 125, OLEG MUTT 100 Ilmar Anvelt

Ilmar Anvelt

JOHANNES SILVET 125, OLEG MUTT 100

Editor of OPEN!

Early in May this year, we marked the birth anniversaries of two grand old men in English language teaching in Estonia – 125 years from the birth of Johannes Silvet (12 May 1895 – 17 February1979) and 100 years from the birth of Oleg Mutt (6 May 1920 – 19 February 1986). In the current article, I will try to view their life and work in parallel.

Johannes Silvet was born to a poor working-class family in Tartu. As Estonia was part of the Tsarist Russian Empire then, he received his education in Russian; the only subjects taught in Estonian were the Estonian language and religious instruction. Still, he says, “I do not remember the time when I could not read in Estonian, and books (usually borrowed from others) were the objects of my greatest interest long before I went to school” (TÜR KHO, F 118, s. 16). No foreign languages were taught at the schools he attended. Being interested in languages, Silvet learned German on his own and French from a Swiss woman residing in Tartu. It remains, however, unclear from whom and how he received his initial knowledge of English.

In 1917, during World War I, the Tartu Teacher Institute where Silvet was a student was evacuated to Herson in Ukraine. Before the evacuation, one professor (Vasili Fidrovski) and one student (Silvet) were sent to Herson to prepare for the relocation. They travelled through St Petersburg where Silvet met a Brit for the first time in his life – Professor Fidrovski’s wife (TÜR KHO, F 118, s. 16). Although the professor and his wife talked in English, Silvet could not have acquired much of the language during this short stopover.

J. Silvet’s way back home after graduating from the institute in Herson was adventurous. He voluntarily joined the White Guard and fought in Denikin’s and Wrangler’s armies. Johannes Silvet’s granddaughter, Marju Silvet (2018), thinks that he might have learnt some English from British officers who served in the Russian White Guard Army. Throughout his life, Silvet considered fighting against communists in the Russian Civil War important, and collaboration with communists, whom he called “reds”, was unacceptable for him. To return to Estonia, he had to travel through several countries – Bulgaria, Serbia, Austria and Germany (EAA.2100.1.15538).

By 1920, when Oleg Mutt was born, Johannes Silvet had returned to Estonia and was working as a primary school teacher in Tartu. He had even qualified as a temporary teacher of English for primary school classes.

Oleg Mutt was born into the newly independent Republic of Estonia, and his social background was quite different from Silvet’s. His father, Victor, had a military and diplomatic career. His mother Eugenie was a teacher of history. Victor Mutt participated as a military expert in the negotiations of the Tartu Peace Treaty, later he served as an Estonian diplomat in the United States, for the longest time as the chief consul in New York (1926–1932) (Mutt, M. 2009a: 57). During their stay in the USA, Eugenie Mutt published a collection of Estonian fairy tales in English translation (Fairy Tales… 1930).

his linguistic formation. His son, writer Mihkel Mutt writes (2009b: 53): “Although father was an ethnic Estonian born in Tartu, and, from twelve years of age to his death, lived in an Estonian-speaking environment, Estonian was not for him, so to say, his first language.”

While Oleg Mutt acquired his English at an American kindergarten and primary school, Johannes Silvet’s first visit to an English-speaking country – the UK – took place when he had already graduated from the University of Tartu with a master’s degree. He studied English philology at Tartu from 1921–1925. After graduation, he applied for a scholarship to continue his studies but was given “the scholarship holder’s rights without a scholarship” (stipendiaadi õigused ilma stipendiumita) (EAA.2100.2.1095). The documents do not reveal what special rights besides getting the scholarship the scholarship holder might have had.

Colonel Victor Mutt

The Finnish-Estonian writer Aino Kallas, wife of Oskar Kallas, the Estonian ambassador to London, writes: “The day before yesterday Mr Schwalbe MA [J. Schwalbe changed his name to Silvet in 1929] arrived from Tartu. The man had given lessons for two years in order to save 45 pounds to come here” (Kallas 1996: 217). Before World War II, J. Silvet visited Britain several times, staying in London, Oxford, Cambridge, Devonshire County (Torquay and Plymouth), Wales (Swansea) and Scotland (Glasgow and Edinburgh). His first visit to Britain was during the General Strike of 1926, and he got his “first best language and ear practice” at meetings where he could improve his understanding of dialects (TÜR KHO, F. 118 s. 16).

Johannes Silvet and Oleg Mutt maintained connections with two famous Estonian schools where they either taught or studied. Even before graduation from the university, Silvet became a teacher at Hugo Treffner Gymnasium in Tartu; he worked there until the communist coup in 1940. Oleg Mutt was a student of Jakob Westholm Gymnasium in Tallinn and completed his secondary education there in 1938 (EAA.2100.1a.383).

Along with being a full-time teacher at Treffner, Silvet did a short stint at the University of Tartu. He was employed as an acting lecturer after the dismissal of the “scandalous experimental phonetician” Willy Peters in 1931 (see Anvelt 2019: 24–28). He worked there for half of the spring semester of 1931 and the whole academic year 1931/1932. The archive documents show him as a competent lecturer who achieved good relationships with his students. It is not known why he did not stay at the university longer and apply for a permanent lecturer’s post.

Oleg Lembit Mutt became a law student at the University of Tartu in 1938 (EAA.2100.1a.383). On a personal note, I worked as Mutt’s assistant for many years and handled all kinds of official documents, but, before studying his archive folder, I did not know that he had a middle name – he always used the name Oleg only. As a child, he had painted in watercolours and oils and wanted to be an artist and, in parallel with his university studies, he attended courses at Pallas Art School. His ideal in art was Günther Reindorff (Mutt, M. 2009b: 35–36).

Besides teaching, Silvet became increasingly engaged in lexicography – he was lucky enough to publish the first edition of his best-known work – the large English-Estonian dictionary – in 1939/1940, just before the outbreak of World War II. His dictionary was largely based on the 1934 edition of The Pocket Oxford Dictionary, but he also used English-Russian, -German and -French dictionaries and terminology dictionaries of many specialities, most of which he had borrowed from the Estonian lecturer Johannes Voldemar Veski (TÜR KHO, F. 118, s. 16).

Johannes Silvet returned to the University of Tartu after the annexation of Estonia by the Soviet Union in 1940. At first, he was employed to teach Russian because of the increased need for this language, but he was soon transferred to the post of English lecturer. He also worked at the university throughout the German occupation of Estonia and, after Prof. Ants Oras’ escape to the West in 1943, had to fulfil the duties of the professor (EAA.2100.2b.1095).

First edition of Silvet’s English-Estonian dictionary with a thumb index Oleg Mutt became a law student at the University of Tartu in 1938 in independent Estonia and continued his studies during the first Soviet occupation of 1940–1941. At this time and in the later Soviet period, students had small booklets where their exam results were recorded. It is interesting that, in O. Mutt’s booklet, “comparative private law” has been crossed out and replaced with “collective farm law”. He passed this exam on 16 January 1941 with an excellent grade (EAA.2100.1a.383).

Mutt interrupted his studies at the beginning of the German occupation. In October 1944, when Estonia was, once again, under Soviet rule, he wrote an application to the Rector where he explained his situation as follows: “In June 1941, due to the beginning of the German occupation and the evacuation of my father to the USSR, I began to manage my parents’ farm at Kiidjärve, Tartu County, and did this throughout the whole occupation time. During the intervals from fieldwork and in the last three winters, I have used my spare time to delve into various philological questions. Now, resuming my university studies after a three-year break, I feel that I have found the speciality to which I could dedicate myself most beneficially. Upon these considerations, I ask you, Comrade Rector, to allow me to be transferred for my further studies from the Faculty of Law to the Faculty of History and Philosophy” (EAA.5311.1/50.103).

The above-mentioned farm was the “heart of Kiidjärve manor” (Kiidjärve mõisasüda) which Oleg Mutt’s father, Colonel Victor Mutt, had received for his services in the Estonian War of Independence (Mutt, M. 2009a: 55).

Kiidjärve manor (drawing by Oleg Mutt) Oleg Mutt was particularly interested in international law and wanted to become a diplomat. Under the changed political circumstances, this career had become impossible for him. “Obviously he understood that one of the few opportunities in life and ways to earn a livelihood for himself and his family – leaving aside unskilled work, of course – was foreign language teaching. The Iron Curtain had dropped, and no native English speakers would be coming

to the USSR, except to a few of the most important universities” (Mutt, M. 2009b: 57–58).

Thus, Oleg Mutt became a student of English at Tartu State University (as it was called then) and graduated in 1948. One of his teachers was Johannes Silvet who taught him foreign language teaching methodology, the history of the English language, a course on Americanisms, a special seminar in English literature, and present-day English. Among his teachers, we can find a pleiad of other wellknown scholars, most of whom had started their careers before Oleg Mutt’s study record book World War II – Villem Ernits (Russian), Paul Ariste (introduction to linguistics, general phonetics), Friedrich Puksoo (bibliography), Arthur Robert Hone (English and American literature), Boris Pravdin (literature of the peoples of the Soviet Union), Leopold Kivimägi (English), Jaan Konks (general history, history of the peoples of the Soviet Union), Konstantin Ramul (psychology), Villem Alttoa (ancient and West-European literature), Léon Vaganay (French), Alfred Koort, Rector of Tartu State University at that time (logic). O. Mutt wrote his graduation thesis under J. Silvet’s supervision; its theme was American English in Sinclair Lewis’ Novels (EAA.5311.1/50.103).

For Johannes Silvet, the end of the war brought unexpected troubles. While Tartu was still occupied by Germany, university staff members were sent to defend a bridge from the advancing Red Army. Silvet was severely wounded in his arm, and the retreating German troops took him along and sent him for treatment in Austria. He returned from Austria as soon as possible as he wanted to join his family. Immediately after his arrival in Tartu in autumn 1945, he was appointed Associate Professor of English and acting head of the Department of the Philologies of Western European Nations (EAA.5311.134.140).

The first post-war years were relatively successful for him. His pre-war master’s degree was recognised as a Soviet candidate’s degree. The second edition of his large English-Estonian dictionary was published, although, for ideological reasons, he had to make some changes, particularly leaving out words related to religion and “reactionary” philosophy. In 1950, however, an unexpected turn happened – he was made redundant because of

Oleg Mutt with colleagues (from left Amanda Kriit, Urve Lehtsalu-Hanko, Helgi Pulk)

“restructuring of staff” (koosseisude ümberkomplekteerimise tõttu) (EAA.5311.134.140). In those years of the Stalinist purge of “bourgeois nationalists”, many renowned scholars were dismissed from the university.

After graduation, Oleg Mutt remained at the university and worked his way up from a teacher to associate professor and head of department. His student and later colleague, Assoc. Prof. Emeritus Nora Toots recalls: “Oleg Mutt is unforgettable. I was most lucky to be among his first students. He apologised endlessly – he even apologised that he didn’t know how to teach!!! We were so foolish that we didn’t appreciate him as much as we should have done. I have kept many of his lectures with his idiosyncratic phrases. He was our only TEACHER, because this was the time when everyone was purged, at our department included. Silvet, Hone and some others, so that there was no one who could have taught us. Oleg Mutt was the only one who could teach us. This was a very valuable service. We recalled this time even later when I was a member of the department. It was only then that I really understood what kind of person had taught us” (Toots 2020).

After dismissal from the University of Tartu, Johannes Silvet found work as a substitute teacher at small country schools – Ahja, Pala and Nina – and Secondary School no. 1 in Tartu (formerly and now, Hugo Treffner Gymnasium). Despite all difficulties, he continued lexicographic work, making additions and corrections to his English-Estonian dictionary for its new edition. House in Kalevi Street, Tartu, where J. Silvet lived

Silvet was able to return to the university in 1956 due to the general warming of the political climate (“the Khrushchev thaw”) and greater significance that the Communist Party and the government attributed to the teaching of foreign languages. This also brought about an increase in staff engaged in

foreign language teaching.

Johannes Silvet and Oleg Mutt worked together as colleagues for a relatively short period – from 1956–1960 when the Department of Foreign Languages was headed by the French philologist Kallista Kann. Johannes Silvet retired in 1960. In his resignation application, he mentions his

deteriorating health and the wish to continue work on his dictionaries, which he was unable to do in addition to his associate professor’s work (EAA.5311.134.140). He left Tartu and settled in a small house in Elva, not far from Tartu.

This was also the period when Silvet worked actively on his Estonian-English dictionary and kept a detailed diary on his work. The diary includes an entry on finishing the dictionary: “The last word in the manuscript (x-jalad) [=x-legs] was entered at 01:30 on 12 May 1960, i.e. in the early morning of my 65 th birthday. Sent to the publisher on 12 May 1960 (in the daytime)” (TÜR KHO, F. 118, s.13). The publishing process was slow, and the reviewers appointed by the publisher – Silvet’s colleagues Arthur Hone and Leopold Kivimägi – did not hurry. The dictionary was finally published in 1965.

O. Mutt’s house in Võru Street, Tartu

In 1959, Oleg Mutt defended his Candidate’s dissertation К вопросу о возникновении и развитии атрибутивного употребления существительных в английском языке (On the Formation and Development of Attributive Use of Nouns in English) at Leningrad University. The language of the thesis and the place of its defence may seem surprising for our younger readers, but even dissertations about the English language had to be written in Russian in the Soviet Union. Mutt became a charismatic lecturer, particularly in History of the English language. He published comprehensively on a variety of subjects, e.g. a series of brochures on the History of English (1963–1986), Social and Regional Varieties of Present-day English (1977), A Short Introduction to Germanic Philology for the Student of English (1973), Inglise keele foneetika (1978), American Life and Institutions (1976), An Introduction to English Stylistics (1973, in cooperation with Urve Lehtsalu and Gustav Liiv), Inglise keele grammatika (1962, in cooperation with Leopold Kivimägi, Johannes Silvet, Laine Võsamäe-Hone).

In 1961, the Department of Foreign Languages was divided into the Departments of English and German, and Oleg Mutt became Head of the Department of English. He remained in this post until 1978 when, because of deteriorating health, he gave his position over to Heino Liiv. When resigning from the post, Mutt wrote to J. Silvet: “So this is the end of a chapter as far as I am concerned. At one time I thought I would run the Department for twenty years and then retire for good. It so happens that I limped along for sixteen and a half years. Looking back on it all, I feel more convinced than ever that I wasn’t suited for an administrative job. Fortunately, my colleagues were all very sensible and helpful – otherwise I wouldn’t have managed as long as I did” (TÜR KHO F 118 s 76). He continued teaching for a few years until retirement.

Johannes Silvet started preparations for publishing the third edition of his English-Estonian dictionary as early as in 1955, but

the publishing process was extremely slow. He did not want to issue a reprint of the earlier edition but a thoroughly revised version. He concluded an official contract with the publisher only in 1964 (TRÜ KHO, F 118, s. 12). I remember him repeatedly saying, “My eyes will not see it.” Unfortunately, this was true. The third edition of Silvet’s English-Estonian dictionary (in two volumes) was published as late as 1989, ten years after the author’s death.

J. Silvet’s notebook for BBC and VoA For both Johannes Silvet and Oleg Mutt, radio was, in those days when contacts with the western world were minimal, one of the ways to keep up with developments in language and follow world affairs. Mihkel Mutt says that his father, until the end of his life, was greatly interested in foreign politics and knew more about it than most commentators in the Estonia of that time (Mutt, M. 2009b: 61). Johannes Silvet had a special notebook where he jotted down words and sentences that he had heard from the BBC and the Voice of America (TÜR KHO, F. 118, s. 21).

Mihkel Mutt describes Oleg Mutt’s writing desk, made at Kiidjärve manor in 1924, as disproportionally large for his relatively small room. A period piece on the table was “Lenin’s lamp” with a green shade; there was also a Philips radio (2009b: 37–39).

Mihkel Mutt comments: “Father’s almost fanatical involvement with English was a kind of protest against the surrounding reality. He would have never had the courage to protest openly, oh, no. His protest was cultural, safe, unnoticeable and for which he could have even been praised officially. But it was still protest. This was his world – a niche or case he had created that others were not allowed to enter” (2009b: 59).

Although Oleg Mutt spent his formative years in the US and always spoke English to everyone who understood it, he could set his foot on the British soil as late as in 1976. He had kept up the language so well that British professors could not recognise that he was a person from behind the Iron Curtain (Mutt, M. 2009b: 59).

After retirement, Johannes Silvet continued doing smaller assignments for the university, such as examining

postgraduate students, supervising and reviewing graduation theses. In 1972 he wrote in his diary: “I feel that today (Thursday, 22 Dec. 1972) is probably the last time that I was at work as a member of the Department of English. I’m in quite a pessimistic mood, particularly because of O. M’s illness. // I took the train back to my comfy little Elva where a good dinner and a warm room were waiting for me.” The note has later been crossed out in red pencil and replaced with “Work goes on” (TÜR KHO, F. 118, s. 25). The last time J. Silvet did any work for the University of Tartu was in 1976.

Johannes Silvet seems to have anticipated his death. He wrote to Ants Oras on 15 January 1979: “It is possible that this is the last letter from me, as a few weeks ago, I was struck by quite an acute disease. I’m an invalid now both physically and psychically. I have lived to an even too old age and experienced quite a lot. [---] This letter is not meant to be whining – on the contrary, I’m satisfied with everything I’ve gone through” (KM EKLA, F 237, M 25:17 l. 20/32). J. Silvet’s gravestone in Elva cemetery

Johannes Silvet died on 17 February 1979 and is buried in Elva cemetery. His gravestone, which resembles a large dictionary and bears his signature, was designed and made by Einar Grišakov (Eesti… 1995). For a more detailed account of Johannes Silvet’s life and work, see my article in Akadeemia no. 4, 2020.

Oleg Mutt had asthma from the age of 16 and he later developed high blood pressure (Mutt, M. 2009b: 65). I remember that he always liked to write a lot on the blackboard during his lectures. The constant breathing in of chalk dust must have also had an aggravating effect on his health. Oleg Mutt died at a relatively young age of 65 on 19 February 1986. Mihkel Mutt (2009b: 68) estimates that a lot of work his father had hoped to do during his retirement, particularly translating Estonian literature into English, Gravestone of the Mutt family in Raadi cemetery, Tartu remained undone. Nonetheless, he managed to translate a collection of short stories by Friedebert Tuglas, Riders in the Sky (1982) and a few other stories, including, as Mihkel Mutt says, his own “first artistically mature” story “My Fair Suburb” (1984).

Oleg Mutt was buried in Raadi cemetery in Tartu.

Johannes Silvet’s and Oleg Mutt’s legacy is living on in hundreds of their students. It is greatly thanks to them that the English language was kept alive at the University of Tartu under the Soviet isolation.

REFERENCES

Anvelt, Ilmar. 2019. Scandalous experimental phonetician. Open! The EATE Journal, 56, 24–28. Anvelt, Ilmar. 2020. Johannes Silvet – legendaarne leksikograaf. Akadeemia, 4, 667–711. EAA = National Archives of Estonia. Eesti Inglise Keele Õpetajate Selts. 1995. Johannes Silvet 100. Õpetajate Leht, 5 May.