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Otto Wilhelm Masing (8 November [O.S. 28 October] 1763 inLohusuu,Kreis Dorpat – 15 March [O.S. 3 March] 1832 inÄksi, Kreis Dorpat, thenLivland Governorate, nowEstonia) was a clergyman, writer, journalist, linguist, notable earlyEstophile and a major advocate ofEstoniancommoners' rights, especially regarding education.
Masing was born in 1763 in the village ofLohusuu,Kreis Dorpat (then part ofRussian Empire, now Estonia). His father Kristian Masick was a local ethnic EstonianLutheran clergyman, and mother Anna Ludovica von Hildebrandt was a noblewoman ofGerman descent.
Masing received schooling at the town school ofNarva (1777–1779), and at theGymnasium ofTorgau (1779–1782) in Germany. He then studiedtheology, music and drawing at theUniversity of Halle before returning to Estonia in 1786.
In 1796, Masing married Dorothea Amalie Ehlertz (1776–1809) inTartu (Dorpat),[1] a daughter of thecity councillor Carl Ulrich Ehlertz (1739–1790)[2] and his wife Louisa Dorothea née Stockenberg (1755–1803), a great-granddaughter of the sculptorJohann Gustav Stockenberg.
Masing's first employment after concluding his studies was as private tutor at the manor inPüssi (Neu-Isenhof) for the children of the nobleman Otto Magnus von Toll.
In 1788, he became the pastor of the Lutheran church inLüganuse (Luggenhusen), and then served from 1795 inViru-Nigula (Maholm), and from 1815 inÄksi (Ecks), where he remained as pastor until his death.[3]
From 1818 he also took on the post of assessor of theconsistory ofLivonia and from 1821 onwards he was alsoProvost forTartu.
In 1795, Masing compiled and published a children's textbook for learning reading,ABD. (The letterC does not appear inEstonian words, and back then, was not considered part of theEstonian alphabet. This considered, the title could be translated asABC.) He published a further textbook with methodical reading instructions,Luggemislehhed, in 1821.
In 1821–1823, and in 1825, Masing published the newspaperMarahwa Näddala-Leht (Estonian for 'Rural People's Weekly'), one of the earliest periodicals inEstonian.
Among other linguistic contributions, Masing is credited with creating the letterõ to denote an Estonian phoneme not found in other related languages.[4]
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