According to Recke and Napiersky, the first poems in Estonian from the pen of a woman were allegedly published in 1779, in the sheet music book Oden und Lieder in Musik gesetzt by Andeas Traugott Grahl, a private tutor in the Governorate of Estonia, but unfortunately it is not preserved. More luckily another sheet music book by him, Lieder und Handsachen für das Klavier und den Gesang, published in Leipzig in 1784, was available to the researchers before World War II. Two poems by Estonian ladies were published there: Tio, tassane ja helde and Liesole. A variant of the Tio-poem (the so-called Rosi-poem) was published in 1787 in the 5th volume of the reader Lesebuch für Ehst- und Livland by Friedrich Gotthilf Findeisen in Oberpahlen (Põltsamaa) in Livonia, and a year later, in 1788, in a longer version in the German literary magazine Der Teutsche Merkur. To the latter, the poem was mediated by Christian Hieronymus Justus Schlegel, a private tutor in Estonia from 1780 to 1782, and then pastor, who left Estonia in 1783. However, he did not ascribe the Rosi-poem to an Estonian lady, but to a gentleman, von Tiesenhausen of Saus, who wrote the poem on the occasion of the passing of his wife. There are several manors called Saus or Sauß in Estonia. Traditionally the Rosi-poem has been ascribed to Ber(e)nd Heinrich von Tiesenhausen of Groß-Sauß (Sausti or Kaarepere). But there was another manor called Sauß (Sauste) near Wesenberg (Rakvere), which belonged to captain Hans Wen(t)zel(l) von Tiesenhausen from 1779 to 1781. Based on several sources, this paper brings forth arguments to support the thesis that the gentleman, von Tiesenhausen, mentioned by Schlegel was actually Hans Wenzel von Tiesenhausen. This man was probably also identical with the captain von Tiesenhausen, whom Grahl has named as his employer in the subscription call of the Lieder und Handsachen. According to Professor Gustav Suits, Grahl acted as a private tutor somewhere near Wesenberg. The paper also suggests that H. W. von Tiesenhausen was the author of the poem Der Client an seinen Sachwalter, published in the muses almanac Estländische poetische Blumenlese for 1780. Earlier this poem has been ascribed to Johann Georg von Tiesenhausen from Northern Latvia. Dirk Sangmeister has guessed that the Albrechts who published the almanac mentioned the name Wesenberg on the cover of the first issue of their periodical (for 1779) in honour of the owner of the Wesenberg manor, judge Jakob Johann von Tiesenhausen and his family, with whom Sangmeister believes the Albrechts stood in a cordial relationship as Sophie Albrecht dedicated several poems to a certain Ottilie von Tiesenhausen. The last one lets us know that on the 9th of June 1781, the news of the death of her beloved friend had reached Sophie Albrecht. The date 9th of June 1781 (due to calendar differences actually 11 days later) can also be found in the archival materials concerning H. W. von Tiesenhausen – on this day his bankruptcy proceedings were started. Already in January 1781 he had sold Sauß; in March 1781 his other manor – Tuddo (Tudu) – was sold too; these are likely the two manors mentioned in his German poem. The bankruptcy proceedings were evoked by a lawsuit, initiated in March 1780 by J. J. von Tiesenhausen, who from 1774 to 1780 rented his Wesenberg manor to his second cousin Hans Wenzel. From 1779 the latter had difficulties in paying the rent. As at the time of the publication of Estländische poetische Blumenlese it was H. W. von Tiesenhausen who was living in the manor of Wesenberg, the recipient of the poems by Sophie Albrecht was very likely his wife. Neither the given nor the maiden name of this woman or her birth date and the exact death date are preserved. H. W. von Tiesenhausen mentions his wife without her name in his report to the court, Demüthigste Anzeige und Unterlegung der wahren Umstände meines gegenwärtigen unglücklichen und betrübten Schicksaals (The humblest report and interpretation of the true circumstances of my current unhappy and sad fate), signed 26 June 1781. It appears that his wife really died shortly before the composing of the report. Frau Capitainin Tiesenhausen has also been mentioned three times in the birth register of the Wesenberg church in 1777 as a godparent, one of the cases being as godmother of a girl, whose mother was the sister of G. W. von Schwengelm, the employer of mister Schlegel, who mediated the Rosi-poem to the Teutsche Merkur! The paper also presumes that the ladies mentioned by Grahl could have been translators and guesses who these women were, but as we lack confirmed proof, the investigation must continue.
Tiio, Roosi, Liiso ja Toomas – maakeelseid luuletusi avaldanud Eestimaa autorite otsinguil
