Austra Skujiņa (born 10 February 1909 in Vidriži parish,

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

– died 5 September 1932,

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) was a Latvian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. She was known for her sad poems about the impossibility of love and happiness despite wanting to achieve it. Her first poem was published in 1926 in a social democrat newspaper, and during her first years she was more known more for left wing and protest poems. The first collection of her poems was published in 1932, shortly after her suicide. Skujiņa committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

on 5 September 1932, at the age of 23. She is buried at the

Riga Forest Cemetery Forest Cemetery ( lv, Rīgas Meža kapi) is an large cemetery in the northwestern part of Riga, the capital of Latvia, between the neighbourhoods of Mežaparks and Čiekurkalns. Formally, the cemetery is divided between 1st Forest Cemetery, wit ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skujina, Austra 1909 births 1932 suicides 1932 deaths People from Limbaži Municipality People from Kreis Riga 20th-century Latvian poets Suicides by drowning Suicides in Latvia Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga Latvian women poets