Education
University of Tartu; University of Helsinki.
University of Tartu; University of Helsinki.
With respect to the latter, he is perhaps best known for his dissertation on "pure" -ne stem nouns ("Die estnischen Nomina auf -ne purum", 1886). He is also featured on the 10 krooni note. Also known as the "king of Estonian folklore", Hurt planned the publication in the 1870s of a six volume series called Monumenta Estoniae Antiquae.
Hurt organised around 1400 volunteer collectors via a press campaign, who visited almost every house in Livonia collecting around 124,000 pages of folklore.
However due to financial difficulties, only two volumes of folk songs were published in 1875-1876, titled Vana kannel (Old Harp). Two more volumes were subsequently published quite some time later in 1938 and 1941.
Hurt also published a three volume collection Setukeste laulud (The Setus" Songs) between 1894 and 1907. Jakob Hurt was an honorary alumnus on the Estonian Students" Society.