Tagasivaateks Heino Ahvena 100. sünniaastapäeval
A retrospective on the 100th anniversary of Heino Ahven’s birth

Summary/Abstract: The article describes the life and work of the longtime academic secretary of the Mother Tongue Society, Heino Ahven (1919–1988). It includes both well-known as well as little-known and hitherto hidden facts about his life. A brief overview is given of Ahven’s education, which was extended and clouded by World War II. With the help of archive material, it is revealed that Ahven was in the German military (March 1943 – September 1944) and was imprisoned during the periods of both German (1943) and Soviet (1944–1945) rule. This is a typical example of the fate of young men who grew up during the first period of independence of the Republic of Estonia.Heino Ahven’s life stabilized when he continued his studies at Tartu State University (1945–1956) and began work as the responsible secretary of the Mother Tongue Society (1947). Devoted to the Estonian language and the Mother Tongue Society, he began to restore the network of dialect correspondents, composed surveys and publications of the Society, organized meetings and conferences, and initiated language days both in the country and in the city. Heino Ahven was everywhere, he became the soul of the Society and of the language events it organized. His voluminous life’s work cannot be adequately measured or weighed, but it demands respect and continual remembrance.

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