Haljand Udam

Who was Haljand Udam?

Haljand Udam was an Estonian orientalist and translator. He graduated from Tartu University as a geologist, but soon became interested in Eastern culture, including Ancient Iranian literature. He studied oriental languages in Tashkent university and Moscow State University Initially specializing in Indology, he became to be interested in traditionalist philosophers like Guénon. In Moscow, Udam defended his candidate's thesis in 1971. Udam has translated several works from Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Tajik, and other languages into Estonian, including Omar Khayyam's Rubaiyat. He also worked as an editor and contributed to Estonian Encyclopedia.

Some of his articles on orientalism have also been published in foreign language magazines. Just before his death, Udam managed to finish the translation of Quran into the Estonian language. It was published on the 19 December 2007. Udam was also known as one of the few Estonian intellectuals who aligned with the Conservative Revolution.