Discussion on Tuglas’ experience in political exile at the Environmental Humanitarian Conference

The second conference of environmental humanities and social sciences BALTEHUMS will take place on 1 and 2 November. It is organised by the Estonian Centre for Environmental History to celebrate its 10th anniversary.

Elle-Mari Talivee, Senior Research Fellow at the Literature Centre and Marin Jänes, Research Secretary, will give a presentation titled “The travel and weather map of a political refugee from the Baltics from the early 20th Century”.  The focus of the presentation is on a map application that shows the journey of Friedebert Tuglas in exile in 1906-1917 alongside the public transport network and the weather of that time. Tuglas fled Estonia for political reasons and was severely affected by the environment due to his lack of money and illegal immigrant status. He lived in Europe under seven different names and crossed the border of the tsarist state ten times with foreign documents. Tuglas mainly used the train to get around, but his notes give an overview of almost all the public transport used at the time. Tuglas’ choices were often determined by existing routes, accommodation and travel costs. In his biographical notes and letters he often writes about the weather that influenced his journey. We should therefore look at these factors together to understand the extent to which they affect such a multifaceted and complex process as forced migration.

Summaries of the conference plan and presentations (in English).