Women's magazine Eesti Naine traces more than a century of Estonian history
Turning 102 this spring, Estonia's longest-running women's magazine Eesti Naine reflects a century of social change, from temperance roots to Soviet rule and today.
First published in Tartu in spring 1924, Eesti Naine is now Estonia's second-oldest monthly periodical, after the literary journal "Looming," which dates back a year earlier.
A traveling exhibition tracing the magazine's history, now in Kuressaare, includes a rare copy of the very first issue.
Given its long run, not all editions had survived in the magazine's own archives over the years. Senior editor Liis Auväärt said some gaps were only recently filled with help from readers together with issues scored from an online auction site.
"The last ones we were missing, I've been buying one by one on Osta.ee," Auväärt said. "The 1945 and 1946 volumes [are left], and then we'll truly have everything!"
Educating women to choose better
The magazine's early mission differed sharply from today's.
Founded as a voice of Estonia's local temperance movement in the 1920s, Eesti Naine ("Estonian Woman") aimed to shape social behavior through education, in turn encouraging women to choose better men for partners at a time of rampant alcohol abuse.
Publication was interrupted during World War II, and during the Soviet occupation, the magazine was rebranded Nõukogude Naine ("Soviet Woman"), reflecting the ideological demands of the time.
Editor-in-chief Mari-Liis Helvik said those issues often carried content that didn't reflect the editorial team's values.
"Looking through those Soviet-era issues, you can see there is content our editorial team did not actually stand for, but which simply had to be there," she said.
Ideologically aligned material dominated the front pages of each issue, as required.
Even so, she added, discerning, pro-Estonian readers could still read between the lines and find subtle expressions of Estonian identity and values deeper in the magazine, such as knitting patterns in the banned Estonian national colors of blue, black and white.
The publication also traces its legacy to its first editor-in-chief, Helmi Mäelo, who helped bring the Mother's Day tradition to Estonia a century ago.
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Editor: Johanna Alvin, Aili Vahtla
