12 Facts About Rein Raud

Rein Raud was born on 21 December 1961 and is an Estonian academic and author.

Rein Raud was born in 1961 in the family of Eno Raud and Aino Pervik, both children's authors.

Rein Raud's younger brother Mihkel Raud is a playwright, television personality, singer, guitarist, journalist and member of the Estonian Parliament; his sister Piret Raud is an artist and translator.

Rein Raud is the grandson of playwright, poet and writer Mart Raud.

Rein Raud graduated from the Leningrad State University in 1985 in Japanese Studies and earned a PhD degree in Literary Theory at the University of Helsinki in 1994.

Rein Raud has worked in the Estonian Institute of Humanities and the University of Helsinki, where he served as a professor in the Department of World Cultures till 2016.

From 2006 to 2011 Rein Raud served as the first rector of the Tallinn University.

Rein Raud has received the Estonian Cultural Endowment Annual Prize for Hektor and Bernard and The Reconstruction as well as the Vilde Prize for Vend.

Rein Raud has frequently contributed to the Estonian public debate by opinion pieces, essays and critical newspaper columns, in which he has expressed left-liberal views and criticised nationalist attitudes.

Rein Raud is well known for his translations of Japanese classical literature into Estonian.

Rein Raud has translated Dante Alighieri's Vita Nova into Estonian.

Rein Raud has been awarded the Order of the Rising Sun, 2nd Class, Gold and Silver Star, the Order of the White Star, 3rd Class and the Commander's Cross for services to Lithuania.