Viljar Ansko

• Name — Viljar Ansko • Other Names — Viljar Kaarna • Born — 1948 5 17 • Birthplace — Tartu, Estonia • Died — 2016 12 20 • Occupation — Physician, poet, caricaturist • Education — University of Tartu • Known for — Editing Memento (1990–1996) and founding Anamnesia publishing; memorial Rails Remember… (1999); cartooning and poetry under the pen name Viljar Kaarna • Awards — Order of the Estonian Red Cross, 4th Class (2002) Citizen's Day Award (2004) Viljar Ansko (17 May 1948 – 20 December 2016) was an Estonian physician, poet and caricaturist. He wrote poetry under the pen name Viljar Kaarna. Ansko edited the newspaper Memento (1990–1996) and founded Anamnesia publishing, which issued dozens of books, many connected with writings by people repressed under Stalinist and Soviet rule. He is also credited as the author of the memorial Rails Remember… (Raudteerööpad mäletavad…), unveiled in 1999 near Risti railway station, dedicated to deportees from western Estonia. A documentary film about him, Unistaja (Eesti lood), was broadcast by Estonian Television (ETV) in 2004.

According to the Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary, Ansko was born in Tartu, spent his childhood in Kaarepere, and his school years in Sompa, Kohtla-Järve. From 1970 he lived in Risti. He studied psychology at the University of Tartu (1970–1993, with breaks) and graduated from the university's Faculty of Medicine in 1985. A long-form profile in Lääne Elu similarly describes his medical education and later work in emergency medicine and primary care. The same sources describe his early work in the oil shale mining industry and later military service as a driver in the Soviet Army in Kaliningrad Oblast.

The University of Tartu dictionary entry describes Ansko's career as including work in psychiatry and emergency care: psychiatrist at Taagepera (1986–1988), physician at Tallinn Emergency Hospital (1988–2000), doctor for uninsured/poor patients at a Tallinn nursing care hospital (1998–2010), and family physician in Padise (2010–2013). Lääne Elu reports on his work in emergency medical services and later treating uninsured patients in Tallinn, as well as his period as a family doctor in Padise.

From 1990 to 1996, Ansko edited Memento, described as a newspaper of people repressed by the Stalinist regime, and he founded Anamnesia publishing, where he compiled, edited and published more than 30 books, many of them poetry collections by deportees and prisoners of Soviet-era camps. A profile in Kultuur ja Elu also discusses his activities and interests, including local history work and the Risti deportee memorial project.

Ansko worked as a caricaturist for decades and published a collection of cartoons and caricatures, Hippocratitis dolorosa (2008). The National Archives of Estonia catalogue records the book with bibliographic details. An item in the medical journal Eesti Arst (by Ansko) presented the book in 2012, reflecting his combination of medical themes and caricature. After his death, the Estonian Humour Museum in Purku exhibited his caricatures; local press described the exhibition as covering his work from 1972 onward. The museum's own list of past exhibitions also includes a “Viljar Ansko” caricature exhibition in 2017.

Ansko was the subject of the ETV documentary episode Unistaja in the series Eesti lood, which the ERR archive describes as a film about his medical work, including treating uninsured patients. The Estonian Film Database (EFIS) entry summarises the film as following Ansko's work as a doctor for the poor at a Tallinn nursing care hospital.

(From the Estonian Writers' Online Dictionary.) • Tuulelembest, luuletõmbest (1995) • Meeletuse meelas maitse (1998) • Aateaabicatõed (2000) • Kahe vahel (2008) • Raha tüürib… (2016) (as Viljar Kaarna; with cartoons by Eduard Tüür) • Hippocratitis dolorosa (2008) (cartoons)

Ansko is credited as the author of the memorial Rails Remember… (1999), dedicated to those deported from western Estonia; the site descriptions note its location by Risti railway station and describe the monument's structure and purpose. English-language tourist information in western Estonia likewise attributes the memorial to Ansko and describes it as a railway-platform installation using rails and stone stairs.

Ansko received the Order of the Estonian Red Cross, 4th Class (2002). He received the Citizen's Day Award (Kodanikupäeva aumärk) in 2004.