6.01.2019 г.

Latvian Literature

RŪDOLFS BLAUMANIS
Biography

Rūdolfs Kārlis Leonīds Blaumanis (1862–1908) was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is
considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history, particularly a master of the literary realism.
Rūdolfs Blaumanis was born in Ērgļi, Latvia to a family of servants in the local manor, father Matīss
Blaumanis – a cook, and his mother Karlīne – a housemaid. Until 1875, he studied in a private school
in Ogre parish and went on to study in a German merchant school until 1881. Blaumanis' first
story Wiedergefunden/Found Again was published in 1882 in a German newspaper Zeitung für Stadt
und Land. In 1886, his first poem in Latvian Nakts/Night was published. From 1887 until 1889, he lived
in his childhood home and wrote several novels both in Latvian and German. In 1889, he moved to
Riga and wrote for a newspaper about Latvian cultural affairs. In 1890, his first play Zagļi/Thieves was
staged in Riga. For a brief period, he worked in the New Current movement's main newspaper Dienas
Lapa where he published satire criticising romanticism. In 1901, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he
led a satirical section of the famous Latvian newspaper Pēterburgas avīzes. In 1904, due to the
financial and health problems, he returned to Latvia. In this period, he wrote some of his most famous
plays. Among Blaumanis' most notable works are his play comedy Skroderdienas Silmačos/The Tailor
Days at Silmači (1902), and his dramas Indrāni (1904) and Ugunī/In Fire (published 1905, staged
1906). Blaumanis drama is characterized by sharp conflict caused by contradicting characters and
inner struggles. Although Blaumanis was not directly involved in the Revolution of 1905, he supported
writers who were. In 1908 his health started to decline, and although with the help of fellow Latvian
writers he was able to go to Finland for treatment, his state was already critical and he died on 4
September 1908 in the Punkaharju sanatorium for tubercular patients. He was buried in Ērgļi, and a
House-Museum for Rūdolfs Blaumanis was opened in Braki, his childhood home, in 1959. Blaumanis'
stories have been adapted for many films and animations.

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