Fricis Roziņš, also known as Fricis Roziņš-Āzis (19 March 1870 – 7 May 1919) was a Latvian Marxist revolutionary, publicist, essayist, columnist and one of the founders of the

Communist Party of Latvia The Communist Party of Latvia (, LKP) was a political party in Latvia. History Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ...

Biography

Frīdrihs (Fricis) Roziņš, was born on 19 March 1870 in the family of Ādam Roziņš, owner of the "Vanagu" house in . He studied at the elementary school in

Durbe Durbe (; , , , ''Durbe''/Дурбен ''Durben'') is a town in South Kurzeme unicipality, in the Courland region of Latvia. Durbe was first noted in 1260, when the Battle of Durbe occurred near Lake Durbe. As of 2020, the population was 492. T ...

, then at the Nikolajas gymnasium in

Liepāja Liepāja () (formerly: Libau) is a Administrative divisions of Latvia, state city in western Latvia, located on the Baltic Sea. It is the largest city in the Courland region and the third-largest in the country after Riga and Daugavpils. It is an ...

. In 1891, he began studying medicine at the University of Tērbatas. In 1894 he was expelled for revolutionary activities. In the spring of 1894, he published an article in the newspaper ''

Dienas Lapa ''Dienas Lapa'' ('Daily Sheet') was a Latvian newspaper published from 1886 to 1905. It espoused progressive politics, including workers' rights and Latvian cultural autonomy. The editors of the newspaper included Pēteris Stučka (1888–91, ...

'' "Are general singing holidays national holidays?". In 1896, Roziņš resumed his studies at the law faculty, but in the summer of 1897 he was arrested due to the accusation of belonging to the

New Current The New Current () in the history of Latvia was a broad leftist social and political movement that followed the First Latvian National Awakening (led by the Young Latvians from the 1850s to the 1880s) and culminated in the 1905 Revolution. Par ...

movement. In September of the same year, he was released from Liepāja prison and ordered to stay at his father's house in "Bušupos" of Tāšu Padure parish. In June 1899, Roziņš moved to London and became a professional revolutionary. He participated in the founding of the Union of Latvian Social Democrats of Western Europe, published the magazine "Latviešu Strādnieks" (1899), later the magazine "Sociāldemokrats" (1900-1905) and the pamphlet series "Social Democrat Library". In the magazines he managed, he printed articles on Marxist philosophy, etc., as well as literary works and poems, which were sent to Russia and Latvia as illegal literature through the port of Liepāja. During this time, Roziņš's historical reflection "Latvian Peasant" and the translation of Marx and Engels'

The Communist Manifesto ''The Communist Manifesto'' (), originally the ''Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (), is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, commissioned by the Communist League and originally published in London in 1848. The ...

were written. In July 1902, the editorial staff of "Social Democrat" moved to Switzerland with Rožina at its head. In 1904, he was elected to the

Social Democracy of the Latvian Territory The Communist Party of Latvia (, LKP) was a political party in Latvia. History Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party ...

the Central Committee and he participated in the 5th Congress of the

Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party The Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), also known as the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party (RSDWP) or the Russian Social Democratic Party (RSDP), was a socialist political party founded in 1898 in Minsk, Russian Empire. The ...

. During the

revolution of 1905 The Russian Revolution of 1905, also known as the First Russian Revolution, was a revolution in the Russian Empire which began on 22 January 1905 and led to the establishment of a constitutional monarchy under the Russian Constitution of 1906, t ...

, he returned to Latvia, where he published satirical "Latvian Workers' Calendars", which he signed under the pseudonym "Āzis", among the readers they were known as "Āža calendars". In 1908, he was arrested and sent to a Siberian

penal colony A penal colony or exile colony is a settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colonial territory. Although the term can be used to refer ...

for four years. In 1912, Roziņa was imprisoned in the

Irkutsk Governorate Irkutsk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, located in Siberia. It existed from 1764 to 1926; its seat was in the city of Irkutsk. Demographics References

Irkutsk Governorate, ...

, from where he escaped to the USA in 1913 and was the editor of the newspaper "Strādnieks". After the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

, he returned to Latvia in 1917 and was elected a deputy of the

Russian Constituent Assembly The All Russian Constituent Assembly () was a constituent assembly convened in Russia after the February Revolution of 1917. It met for 13 hours, from 4 p.m. to 5 a.m., , whereupon it was dissolved by the Bolshevik-led All-Russian Central Ex ...

, in January 1918 he became the chairman of the Executive Committee (

Iskolat Iskolat (, ), or formally the Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers, Soldiers, and the Landless in Latvia, was the governing body in the territory of Latvia that was under control of the pro-Communist Red Latvian Riflemen in 1917–1918. ...

) of the Council of Latvian Workers, Soldiers and Landless Deputies. After Iskolat was disbanded in March 1918, Roziņš worked in the People's Commissariat of National Affairs of the Russian Communist Party in Moscow, then returned to Riga, where he was commissar of agriculture in the government of the

Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic The Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic (, LSPR) was a short-lived socialist republic formed during the Latvian War of Independence. It was proclaimed on 17 December 1918 with the political, economic, and military backing of Vladimir Lenin and ...

. Fricis Roziņš died in Luznava,

Rēzekne district Rēzekne (, ''Rēzne'' or ''Rēzekne'' , ) is a state city in the Rēzekne River valley in the Latgale region of eastern Latvia. It is called ''The Heart of Latgale'' (Latvian ''Latgales sirds'', Latgalian ''Latgolys sirds''). Built on seven h ...

, on 7 May 1919, of pulmonary tuberculosis and was buried in Riga's

Brothers' Cemetery Brothers' Cemetery or Cemetery of the Brethren (), also sometimes referred to in English as the Common Graves or simply as the Military Cemetery, is a military cemetery and national monument in Riga, capital of Latvia. The cemetery is a memori ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rozins, Fricis 1870 births 1919 deaths Prospectives of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party Russian Constituent Assembly members 19th-century Latvian male writers Revolutionaries of the Russian Revolution of 1905 Latvian revolutionaries Latvian male journalists Latvian satirists Latvian columnists 19th-century journalists from the Russian Empire Latvian Marxists Bolsheviks Translators from German Latvian Socialist Soviet Republic people Deaths from pneumonia in Latvia Tuberculosis deaths in Latvia Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Ministers of agriculture of Latvia Russian Social Democratic Labour Party members Old Bolsheviks 20th-century deaths from tuberculosis