Richard Kaljo (1914-1978)
Richard Kaljo was born in Petrograd as the son of Jaan Kaljo and Minna Kaljo, a metalworker. Between 1917 and 1918 the family moved to Tartu, where Richard graduated from the Tartu Teachers' Seminary primary school. In 1924 his father died. Her mother went to work in a metal wreath workshop as a wreath maker, and when the workshop was moved to Tallinn, her mother went there. Richard Kaljo stayed in Tartu with his aunt Pauline Kukli. 1928 - 1933 , he studied Hugo Treffner , wherein the drawing of its teachers were Eduard Be and Agu Peerna . In 1933 the artist's mother also died. From 1933 to 1935 Kaljo completed his military servicePeipsi Fleet Division II as a sailor. After military service he worked for a short time as a student of Tartu publishing association Loodus.
, 1935 . In 1998 he entered the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Tartu . For the next year, he changed his profession and studied , 1936 - 1940 Higher Art School Pallas . At first he experimented with sculpture and painting at the studios of Anton Starkopf and Alexander Ward , respectively. The final choice was to study graphic arts in the studio of Arkadio Laigo , with Roman Vaher as a lecturer.
From 1940 to 1941 he worked as a freelance graphic artist in Tartu. In 1941, he worked as a book illustrator, making cover art for the publishing of Fiction and Art . In July of the same year, his Tartu home with its library, art collection and tools was destroyed. In order to avoid persecution by the German occupation authorities in 1940 for the sake of competition, he volunteered to join the German army. Was appointed writer of the 181st security company, but was soon dismissed for health reasons. Returned from the 1942 War, he continued to work freelance until 1944.
, 1944 - 1948 in worked in Tartu Art Institute as an assistant and later as a senior instructor. In 1945 he became a member of the Estonian Artists' Association . , 1949 . Freelance in Tallinn since 1964 and 1964 . Since 1971 he is a distinguished artist of the Estonian SSR .
Richard Kaljo died on 5 July 1978 in Tallinn, but is buried in Tartu at Raadi Cemetery .