Jan Rainis is a well-known Latvian poet, an outstanding writer, thinker and politician who had a huge influence on the formation of the culture and national identity of the people of his country during the formation of its independence.
Childhood
Janis Pliekšans (the name of the writer given to him at birth) was born on September 11, 1865 in the estate of Tadenava - the most remote corner of Latvia, located in the Courland province.
The closest cultural center to these lands was the city of shopkeepers, artisans, carpenters - Dinaburg (Daugavpils). The boy learned to observe nature; From his first childhood impressions, he best remembered the summer, beautiful green fields, blue ponds, winding forest paths and the sun, the kind power of which is still felt in the poetry of the author. His mother, Darta Pliekshan, a smart and active woman, joined the treasury of human creativity of the future writer. She sang a lot, and Jan Rainis managed to record a large number of folk songs.
Jan's father was a fairly wealthy man - a peasant who managed to independently achieve a stable financial situation and gave his child an excellent education. From a small childhood, the boy was fluent in Russian and German, and later studied Latin and French. With a more detailed acquaintance with the biography of Janis, it becomes clear that the poet also spoke freely in Lithuanian, Belarusian, Polish and Italian.
Gymnasium years
Since 1880, Rainis Jan enrolled at the Riga City Gymnasium, then “nibbled” on the granite of science at St. Petersburg State University. According to Jan, he chose the profession of lawyer because he wanted to personally be inside the life of his state, transforming it for the better. At that time he read a lot; these were the works of writers of ancient times (Aeschylus, Sophocles, Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch) and modern writers (Shakespeare, Byron, Lermontov, Shelley, Heine, Pushkin). At the same time he was engaged in translations of the great works of world classics.
It was in St. Petersburg, the revolutionary cradle, that the poet swore allegiance to the proletariat and until the very last day served its interests.
Journalistic activity
Upon completion of studies, Jan Rainis, whose biography is a subject of special pride for his compatriots, got a job in the specialty: first to Vilnius, then to Berlin, Panevezys, Jelgava. After defending his dissertation in 1891, he became a candidate of legal sciences, but quite easily said goodbye to a promising career as a lawyer.
At the same time, Jan Rainis was seriously interested in politics, was fond of literary activities, got a job in the editorial office of the newspaper “Dienas Lapa”, which was close in its interests to the social democratic spirit. It was the editorial years that became the most fruitful time of journalistic activity of Jan Rainis. The poet wrote poems, reviews, political reviews and polemical articles, became one of the best and most sought-after journalists in his country.
In the link
The poet Rainis Jan, whose biography arouses the sincere interest of a wide circle of readers, actively fought for revolutionary ideas, for which he was repeatedly imprisoned. He was first imprisoned in 1897. In 1899, the poet was exiled for 5 years to the Vyatka province - one of the centers of political exile, known for its endless marshy swamps and impenetrable dense forests. It was there, in a provincial Russian town with a boiling spiritual activity, Rainis released the first poem collection “Far Echoes in the Blue Evening” (1903), which clearly reflected his artistic and spiritual path for almost 20 years.
Upon returning home, Rainis spent two extremely fruitful years of his life. By that time, the poet was married to the famous poetess of Aspazia, he was 38 years old, and he was completely engaged in public work and creative activity. Jan spoke a lot at rallies and meetings, took an active part in the Congress of Latvian teachers, collaborated with the Social Democrats, traveled to Moscow as a delegate. With glee and joy, the poet reacted to the 1905 revolution, in which he took a direct part.
The most significant accomplishment of this period was the great poetic drama “Fire and Night” - a great work of Latvian drama.
Biography and books of the author
Rainis Jan with his wife after the defeat of the armed uprising emigrated to Switzerland, where he lived for 15 years. It was this country that the poet called his second homeland. Here the author saw such works as “The End and the Beginning”, “Silent Book”, “New Power”, “Those Who Do Not Forget”, “Daugava”, “Wei, the Breeze”, “Fire and Night”, “Joseph and his brothers ”,“ Golden Horse ”.
Rainis's plays and poems became the best examples of Latvian poetry, which used to be secondary in nature and imitated German literature.
last years of life
Upon his return to already independent Latvia, where thousands of people met him and his wife as national heroes, Jan Rainis wrote the tragedy Ilya Muromets, then published the poetry book Five Dagda's Sketchbooks. After spending the last 9 years of his life in Riga, the poet took an active part in political life, was elected to the Latvian Constituent Assembly, was one of the authors of the country's constitution, and even participated in the presidential race, which he lost. From 1921 to 1925 he worked as the director of the Art Theater. A large number of stage works were staged by the National Theater during the years of Rainis. From 1926 to 1928, Jan Rainis served as Minister of Education, and in 1925 received the country's highest award - the Order of Three Stars of the 1st degree.
The life of the Latvian poet was cut short in Jurmala on September 12, 1929. Ian Rainis left suddenly, leaving in the archive materials for more than a hundred unfinished plays. The world famous writer was buried in the New Cemetery, which later received his name. In 1943, his wife Aspaziya was buried near Ian.
The plays of Jan Rainis are staged not only on Latvian theaters, but also on the planet, and his poetry, published in new translations, is gaining millions of readers.