Viiu Härm

Viiu Härm (born 3 July 1944) is an Estonian poet, author, photographer, translator, and former actress. Härm's career as an actress began as a teenager in the early 1960s. After appearing onstage and in several films, she retired from acting in the early 1970s to focus on writing.

Early life and education Viiu Härm was born in German occupied-Tallinn during World War II to parents Evald and Liidia Härm (née Kiive). She is the eldest of two children; her brother was ballet dancer/master and choreographer Tiit Härm (1946–2025). She attended Tallinn 29th Incomplete Secondary School from 1951 until 1958 and Tallinn 7th Secondary School from 1958 until graduating in 1962.

Career Acting Viiu Härm's career as an actress came to prominence as an eighteen-year-old when she was cast in the starring role of Salme in the 1962 Leida Laius-directed Tallinna Kinostuudio (now, Tallinnfilm) war-drama Õhtust hommikuni, based on the 1960 short story by author Heino Puhvel (under the pen name Mart Kalda). She has also appeared in several television productions.

Selected works Pealkirjata (poetry collection, 1973) Luuletusi, lugusid ja midagi ka Margareetast (poetry collection, 1978) Valge vaikus (poetry collection with Peeter Tooming and Ants Säde, 1979) Sina, jõgi (poetry collection with photographer Peeter Tooming, 1984) Avamaastik / Kusagil tuksub mu süda (poetry collection with husband Paul-Eerik Rummo, 1989) Duubel kaks: nüüd, kus ma midagi ei küsi... (novel, 2000) Keegi teeline (poetry collection, 2004) Õhuaken (novel, 2004) Oh sind tüdrukut (children's book, 2009) Pallimäng (children's book, 2017)

In addition to her own work, Härm has also compiled a collection of poems by Marie Under titled Laternaks mu enda süda that was published in 2006 with a foreword written by Härm. She has also translated verses from Latvian into the Estonian language, and has also written new Estonian translations for the plays Among the Angels by Leonid Zhuhovitsky, The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, and Years of Wandering by Aleksei Arbuzov.

Photography Härm has also earned recognition as a nature photographer. In 2017, she won awards from both the Pilvepiir photo contest and the natural science magazine Eesti Loodus. That same year, Härm's exhibit of nature photography titled Lähedal opened in both Kõpu Lighthouse on the island of Hiiumaa and at the A. H. Tammsaare Museum in Tallinn.