Vello Helk

Who is Vello Helk?

Vello Helk is an eminent Danish historian of Estonian origin.

In 1944 Helk was mobilized in the German army and was forced to go to Germany. From there he went to Denmark, where he in 1947 attended the University of Århus, where he studied history, Latin and German. He concentrated on history of Northern Europe in 16th and 17th century, and his main work was about the Norwegian jesuit Laurentius Nicolai, who tried to re-catholicize Scandinavia. He also has written an extensive survey about the Jesuits in Tartu and had studied the history of Scandinavian students in Southern European universities from 1536 to 1864. He is also interested in Danish-Estonian contacts, especially in the 16th Century, and also during the Estonian War of Independence. Helk's main works are written in German or Danish and some of them are also translated in Estonian.

Helk worked for over 30 years in Danish National Archives, where he was leader of the 4th section from 1970 to 1990, and in 1978–1979 he was the deputy main archivist of Denmark. In 1990 he retired.

In 1996 Vello Helk was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by the University of Tartu.