Writing

Jaan Kross

Born — Died

1920-02-19 — 2007-12-27

Place of birth

Tallinn, Harju County, Estonia

Known for

Writing

Credits

4 titles

IMDb profile

Jaan Kross (February 19, 1920 – December 27, 2007) was an Estonian writer. He won the 1995 International Nonino Prize in Italy. Born in Tallinn, Estonia, son of a skilled metal-worker, Jaan Kross studied at Jakob Westholm Gymnasium, and attended the University of Tartu (1938–1945) and graduated from its School of Law. He taught there as a lecturer until 1946, and again as Professor of Artes Liberales in 1998. In 1940, when Kross was 20, the Soviet Union invaded and occupied the three Baltic countries: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania; imprisoned and executed most of their governments. In 1941, Nazi Germany invaded and took over the country. Kross was first arrested by the Germans for six mon…

Known for

September is a film about the complicated choices of simple people. The internationally renowned Estonian author, Jaan Kross (1920-2007) was arrested in 1944 by the Nazis. A year after the Soviet forces entered Tallinn and he was arrested again. The accusation was the same both times: conspiracy with the underground independence revolutionaries. Based on the author's journal, pieces from his oeuvre and interviews, the film creates a story about a few monumental weeks in Tallinn, in September 1944.