History has recorded quite a number of instances of people whose lives were cut short but whose achievements could easily be divided between the full lives of several men, with something still left over. Johannes Pääsuke, the first Estonian film director, cameraman and photographer, a figure neglected for half a century after reaching his tragic end at the age of twenty-six, fits the bill.

He was born on 30 March 1892 to a merchant family of six children in Tartu. Not much is known about Johannes's childhood and schooldays, despite the memoirs of his mother Ell Pääsuke, which his nieces donated to the Estonian National Museum. It is quite remarkable that, although she only attended school for seven weeks, her memoirs are enjoyable and greatly enlivened by poems.

Johannes was probably quite a typical photographer - curious, with a lively imagination, good technical skills, brave and confident. His first known photograph is dated 1902/1903 and shows his mother Ell. Johannes was only 10-11 at the time.

Johannes Pääsuke was mostly self-taught, although the family archives contain photographs stamped by various prominent studios in Tartu - those of Theodor John, Georg Friedrich Schlater, Wilhelm Staden, and Heinrich Riedel. It is likely that he attended these studios to enhance his skills. The young photographer used family members as models. The first Pääsuke picture in the National Museum's collection dates from 1908.

In 1912 he was already on the Museum's employee list as a project photographer - he took pictures of what was required. On 27 April 1912 he filmed, with a camera he made himself, the flight demonstration of the Russian aviator Sergei Utotchkin in Tartu. He was assisted by Waldemar Jaeger and Robert Angervaks, a 16-year old usher in the Imperial cinema. The first Estonian film crew had thus been founded, and the Danish and German film monopoly began to crumble. According to Ilmari Karro, however, the first filming was not a success because the pilot had taken a rather plump lady to accompany him and the plane failed to take off. The next time a slender lady turned up and both the flight and the filming were successful. The first Estonian documentary was shown for a week at the Tartu cinemas Illusioon and Imperial. Pääsuke did not rest on his laurels: he started systematically recording various sporting events and public festivities. As an enterprising young man he set up his own film company, Estonia-Film (operated 1912-1915). He also produced newsreels, mostly for the Russian branches of the French companies ƒclair, Pathe and Gaumont; and held negotiations with German and Austrian companies. All that in addition to his regular job at the National Museum.

In 1913 he was dispatched for two months to take pictures of the northern Estonian coast, Saaremaa, Muhumaa and Hiiumaa islands. The result was 300 glass negatives (13x18 cm), the maturity of which proved the author's masterful skills. Together with the art historian Friedrich von Stryk, he recorded the streets, buildings and architectural details of Tartu, plus Tartu County and southern Estonia in general, producing altogether 450 high-quality glass negatives. Out of personal interest he took his film camera with him on these trips and produced a number of short films: "Tartu, Town and Surroundings" (1912), "Historical Monuments of Estonia's Past" (1913), "Journey Through Setumaa" (1913), "Views of Võrumaa and the Setus' Easter Festivities" (1913), "Great Snowstorm in the Baltic Countries at Christmas" (1913), "Tallinn's Estonia Theatre and Troupe" (1914), etc. Some of these have survived intact, some only in fragments.

However, the thoughts of the photographer and documentary filmmaker Johannes Pääsuke were already moving towards another aim: to start preparing Estonia's first feature film. There was no shortage of good material, especially in the lucrative field of politics. The subject matter is topical even today - local elections and Pärnu. The plot centred on the conflict between the journalist Karu from the Pärnu daily newspaper Postimees, and the mayor of Pärnu, von Brackmann, and ended with the journalist being convicted of libel and going to prison for 40 days. The trial acquired the dimensions of a nationalist conflict between Estonians and Germans. The film was appropriately titled "Bear-hunt in Pärnumaa" (the journalist's name Karu means 'bear') and ran in Tartu cinemas in 1914 with tremendous success. However in Pärnu the film was banned.

Regarding "The Bear Hunt", a legend should hereby be dispelled. Nobody knows where it came from, but it is still going strong. According to the legend, Johannes Pääsuke manually coloured all 15 000 single shots, which would doubtlessly be wonderful if it were actually true. The film sent from France had the tonality of sepia that deepened further in the course of developing. Besides, where would that over-active young man have found the time for such an undertaking? His time was planned to the split-second. He was always in a hurry as if he knew that his time was limited.

In early autumn 1915, Johannes Pääsuke was called to serve in WWI. Veste Paas's film book Past Times tells about Pääsuke turning to Carl Bulla, court photographer of Nikolai II, in the hope of becoming a war photographer or cameraman. Pääsuke served in the reserve battalion of the Lithuanian guards regiment and was indeed able to continue taking pictures. Unfortunately, only a few photographs of Krasnoje Selo have found their way into the National Museum's collections. On 8 January 1918 his battalion's train was travelling through Byelorussia. In an accident near Orsha Station, Johannes Pääsuke, who was having a rest on the upper bunk, fell down, hit his head against the table corner, and died. He was only 26. Mother Ell arranged for Johannes Pääsuke's body to be brought back to Estonia and buried in Tartu.

The life of Johannes Pääsuke was short but intense. A truly creative person does not care for himself; he is vulnerable, because his thoughts are always on the coming day. In the serenity of his unexpected departure, he hopefully found peace at last.

Ülle Lillak, researcher of older Estonian photography history.

* 'pääsuke' is swallow in English