Poolelijäänud teadustöö. Helmi Kurriku elu keerdkäigud 20. sajandil

Abstract

Unfinished research. The twists and turns of Helmi Kurrik’s life in the 20th century Helmi Kurrik (1883–1960) was known as a first-generation Estonian ethnologist who worked at the Estonian National Museum (ERM) before and during World War II and who edited the 1938 collection Eesti rahvaroivad (Estonian national costumes). Generally, this is the extent of our knowledge about her. Yet, she can be considered one of the most important ethnologists in the pre-war republic in addition to Ilmari Manninen, Gustav Rank and Ferdinand Linnus. How can we interpret Helmi Kurrik’s role in Estonian cultural history, specifically her role in Estonian ethnology and museology? Why has so little been written about her? Was it that her contemporaries such as G. Rank were (more) successful as researchers and brighter personalities? Is it that Kurrik became a researcher “too late”? Why are some researchers prominent in historiography while others remain in the background? What are the bases for writing about the history of research? The article explores some of the stages of Helmi Kurrik’s life that began already in the 19th century in the family of a leading figure of the Estonian national movement and ended in near obscurity in California, United States of America, where Kurrik resided as a refugee. Her road to becoming a researcher was bumpy but due to this we can be certain of her desire to work as an ethnologist. Kurrik’s research, reports and correspondence are also analysed to shed light on her thoughts on folk culture and ethnology.