Peeter Mihkelson (1842-1914)

Teacher and translator

Born on 25 January 1842 [1] (this and other dates are given according to the Julian calendar) in the village of Kõnnu (Pärnu county), Peeter Mihkelson’s father was the owner of the Taarikõnnu farmstead. His young son entered the Riga Orthodox ecclesiastical seminary in 1853. Graduating a decade later, he continued his studies at the St Petersburg Ecclesiastical Academy (the Orthodox equivalent of a university) until 1867. He then returned to Riga and started to work as a teacher of arithmetic and geography in the seminary. Having successfully delivered test lectures during 1868, he was entrusted with teaching the Scriptures; sometime later, he also started to teach Hebrew. In 1871, Mihkelson obtained a master’s degree in theology. Between 1872 and 1882, he was appointed inspector of the seminary. As a result of the reorganization of seminaries in the Russian Empire in 1885, Mihkelson became a lecturer in mathematics and physics: he had to give up teaching the Scriptures, but continued to teach Hebrew until his death.

Mihkelson was a prolific translator. From 1870, he was a member of the Translation Committee in Riga that put Orthodox service books into Estonian. He translated and edited almost all such works published in the last quarter of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth centuries, including the Hymn Book, the Triodion, and the Pentecostarion. These books laid the foundation of the Orthodox divine liturgy in Estonian.

In the field of public education, Mihkelson compiled an alphabet book of the Russian language (Wene keele Abitse raamat Eesti rahwa tarwis), published between 1870 and 1882. From 1889 to 1907, he compiled Orthodox calendars in Estonian (Kalender ehk Täht-Raamat Õigeusuliste Eestlaste kasuks), which helped the Orthodox rural population to maintain their faith and religious identity. His works were unique because they endorsed the development of Estonian Orthodox spirituality and identity throughout the period of russification.

An appreciated expert in ancient languages ​​(Hebrew, Greek, and Latin), he spent much of the later period of his life [2] as a member of the committee that reviewed the Estonian Bible translation accomplished by the Lutheran clergy.

For his long and excellent service, he was awarded the orders of St Anna and Stansilaus (II and III class) and the order of St Vladimir (III class). Mihkelson died on 24 October 1914 and was buried in the Pokrovskaia cemetery in Riga.

Notes

[1] His birth date varies: the Estonian Cultural History Archives date it to 28 July 1842, but an article dedicated to Mikhelson’s twentieth-fifth year of service dates it to 25 January. I have made an inquiry to Pokrovskaia cemetery office’s for confirmation.

[2] The date of when the Committee of Bible Translation began its work varies: the article mentioned in note [1] dates it to 1870, but his obituary puts it at 1871.

AUTHORS

Andrei Sõtšov and Heiko Kivihall

Sources

Online catalogue ESTER:

Eestikeelne õigeusu kirjandus, koostanud August Kaljukosk. EAA.5437.1.53

Väljavõte Riia Vaimuliku Kooli ja Riia Vaimuliku Seminari kasvandike elulood I ja II. KM EKLA, f296, m 18:1, lk 279–282,

Raudsepp, A. "Riia Vaimulik Seminar 1846–1918", Tartu, 1998, lk 120

P.M. Mihkelsoni 25 aastane teenistusjuubel, Рижские епархиальные ведомости, No 20, 15. oktoober 1892, lk 765–766,

Nekroloog, Usk ja Elu, Nr 44, 4. november 1914, lk 522–523

Nekroloog, Рижские епархиальные ведомости, No 21, 1. november 1914, lk 629–631