Jānis Akuraters

Jānis Akuraters
Akuraters in the 1920s.
Born	13 January 1876 Dignāja parish, Russian empire (Now Ābeļi parish, Latvia)
Died	25 July 1937 Rīga, Latvia
Pen name	Ezops, Polloks
Occupation	Writer, poet, playwright
Nationality	Latvian
Children	Laima Akuratere

Jānis Akuraters (1876–1937) was a Latvian poet, writer, playwright and politician. He founded the Latvian National Theatre in 1919 and was director of Radio of Riga between 1930 and 1934.^[1]

Biography

Jānis Akuraters was born on 13 January 1876 in Dignāja parish Jaunzemji homestead (Modern Jēkabpils municipality). His father was a forester. Akuraters studied in a Birži primary school and later in the Jēkabpils city school. After graduation he passed teachers exam and started work in schools. 1898 in Elkšņi, 1899–1901 in Jumurda and 1902 in Riga.

In 1903 Akuraters went to Moscow to study medicine however he started to attend law lectures instead. In this period he also started Russian literature studies. In 1904 he returned to Latvia and turned to poetry. Akuraters participated in the Revolution of 1905 one of his most famous poems Ar kaujas saucieniem uz lūpām (With battle cry on our lips) is dedicated to revolution. After the suppression of the revolution he was arrested briefly and after release he published art magazine Pret Sauli. In 1907 Akuraters was again arrested and deported to Pskov Oblast, Russia. From there he managed to get to Finland, and from there to Sweden, finally settling in Norway. While in exile Akuraters wrote one of his famous works, his childhood memories Kalpa zēna vasara. He returned to Latvia in 1908.

During First World War Akuraters enlisted in the Latvian Rifleman regiment and took part in the famous Christmas Battles. After the war Akuraters turned to politics. He was a member of Latvian National democratic party and was elected as a member of provisional government Peoples council in 1918. He participated in the declaration of the independence of Latvia in 18th. November 1918. In later years he was a director of art department and director of Latvian Radio. Jānis Akuraters died on 25 July 1937 in Riga. His house in Riga is now turned into a memorial museum.

Literature

Jānis Akuraters first publication was made in 1895 in magazine Austrums, it was a poem Ziema (Winter). During his lifetime are published 10 collections of poetry, 14 plays many stories and novels. His poetry is close to romanticism but in his prose works dominates expressionism.

References

1. Skultans, Vieda (1998). The Testimony of Lives: Narrative and Memory in Post-Soviet Latvia. Psychology Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-415-16290-6. Retrieved 8 January 2013.