Synopsis
"Alchemist of Coal" tells us about dreams and destiny of a man. At the same time, it tells us about destiny of one generation of people in Estonia. Jaan Kross (1920) is the grand old man of conteporary Estonian literature, who graduated from Tartu University in 1944 as a lawyer, and subsequently involved as journalist and translator. In 1944 he was arrested and accused of conspiracy against the occupying German forces. During 1948-1951 he was imprisoned in the autonomous Komi Republic, and from 1951-1954 lived in exile in the Krasnoyarsk region. After returning home he dedicated his life to literature as a free-lance writer and translator. His internationaly recognized novels represent important historical figures in Estonian cultural history. Jaan Kross has won numerous Estonian and international prizes. He is an honorary doctor of Tartu University and of Helsinki University. He has published 33 books, and his works have been translated into 20 languages. Jaan Kross has been a mominated for the Nobel Literary Prize several times.