Asja Lācis
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Anna "Asja" Lācis (née Liepiņa; russian: Анна 'Ася' Эрнестовна Лацис, ; german: Asja Lazis; October 19, 1891 – November 21, 1979) was a Latvian actress and theatre director.


Biography

A
Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
, in the twenties she became famous for her proletarian theatre troupes for children and
agitprop Agitprop (; from rus, агитпроп, r=agitpróp, portmanteau of ''agitatsiya'', "agitation" and ''propaganda'', " propaganda") refers to an intentional, vigorous promulgation of ideas. The term originated in Soviet Russia where it referred ...
in Soviet Russia and Latvia. She believed that children's theater could be used as the cornerstone for the children's general education, which was especially important with poor, proletarian children who often had little or no other educational opportunities. In 1922 she moved to
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
where she got to know Bertolt Brecht and
Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content o ...
, to whom she introduced the ideas of
Vsevolod Meyerhold Vsevolod Emilyevich Meyerhold (russian: Всеволод Эмильевич Мейерхольд, translit=Vsévolod Èmíl'evič Mejerchól'd; born german: Karl Kasimir Theodor Meyerhold; 2 February 1940) was a Russian and Soviet theatre ...
and
Vladimir Mayakovsky Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky (, ; rus, Влади́мир Влади́мирович Маяко́вский, , vlɐˈdʲimʲɪr vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ məjɪˈkofskʲɪj, Ru-Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky.ogg, links=y; – 14 Apr ...
. In 1924 she met the German philosopher and critic
Walter Benjamin Walter Bendix Schönflies Benjamin (; ; 15 July 1892 – 26 September 1940) was a German Jewish philosopher, cultural critic and essayist. An eclectic thinker, combining elements of German idealism, Romanticism, Western Marxism, and Jewish ...
in Capri, and the duo would have an intermittent affair for the next several years as he visited her in Moscow and Riga. She has been cited as a factor in Benjamin's embracing
Marxism Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
.
Mark Lilla Mark Lilla (born 1956) is an American political scientist, historian of ideas, journalist, and professor of humanities at Columbia University in New York City. A self-described liberal, he frequently, though not always, presents views from that ...
, "The Riddle of Walter Benjamin" in
The New York Review of Books
', May 25, 1995
In 1928, Benjamin dedicated a collection of essays to her.National Library to recount the fabulous story of Latvian pioneer of the avant-garde
Public Broadcasting of Latvia Public Broadcasting of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas sabiedriskais medijs, lit=Latvian Public Media – LSM) is a publicly funded radio and television organization operated by both of Latvia's public broadcasters – Latvian Television and Radio Latvi ...
. January 17, 2018
In 1938 during
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...
's
Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Yezhov'), was Soviet General Secret ...
she was deported to
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
. Lācis returned to Soviet Latvia in 1948 and spent her old age together with her husband, the German theatre critic Bernhard Reich. 1948–57 she was the main director of Valmiera Drama Theatre and used the leftist avant-garde technics in her stage productions. Lācis' granddaughter is the acclaimed Latvian theatre director Māra Ķimele.


References


Sources

*(via JSTOR) *(memoirs) * Ķimele, Dagmāra and Strautmane, Gunta. ''Asja: režisores Annas Lāces dēkainā dzīve'' sja: The Stormy Life of the director Anna Lāce Riga: Likteņstāsti, 1996. * Asja Lascis, ''Revolutionär in Beruf: Berichte über proletarisches Theater, über Meyerhold, Brecht, Benjamin und Piscator''. Munich: Rogner & Bernhard, 1971. 1891 births 1979 deaths Latvian theatre directors Latvian stage actresses 20th-century Latvian actresses Soviet theatre directors {{Latvia-bio-stub