Knuts Skujenieks (5 September 1936 – 25 July 2022) was a Latvian poet, journalist, and translator from fifteen European languages. He spent his childhood near

Bauska Bauska () is a town in Bauska Municipality, in the Zemgale region of southern Latvia. Bauska is located from the Latvian capital Riga, 62 km (38.5 mi) from Jelgava and from the Lithuanian border on the busy European route E67. The to ...

Zemgale Semigallia, also spelt Semigalia, ( lv, Zemgale; german: Semgallen; lt, Žiemgala; pl, Semigalia; liv, Zemgāl) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located in the south of the Daugava river and the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. ...

. Skujenieks later studied at

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

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 ...

and at the

Maxim Gorky Literature Institute The Maxim Gorky Literature Institute (russian: Литературный институт им. А. М. Горького) is an institution of higher education in Moscow. It is located at 25 Tverskoy Boulevard in central Moscow. History The insti ...

in Moscow. In 1962, he was convicted of

anti-Soviet Anti-Sovietism, anti-Soviet sentiment, called by Soviet authorities ''antisovetchina'' (russian: антисоветчина), refers to persons and activities actually or allegedly aimed against the Soviet Union or government power within the ...

activities, and sentenced to seven years in a prison camp in

Mordovia The Republic of Mordovia (russian: Респу́блика Мордо́вия, r=Respublika Mordoviya, p=rʲɪsˈpublʲɪkə mɐrˈdovʲɪjə; mdf, Мордовия Республиксь, ''Mordovija Respublikś''; myv, Мордовия Рес ...

, Russia. Although he was a prolific poet, his first collection was only published in 1978. The poems he wrote during his captivity were published in 1990. Skujenieks' poetry has been translated into many European languages. Books of his poetry have been published in Sweden and Ukraine. In 2008 he was awarded the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature. In 2015, Film Director Ivars Tontegode was shooting a biographical documentary feature ''Knutification/Nepareizais'' about the life of Knuts Skujenieks.

Bibliography

*''Lirika un balsis'' (Lyrics and Voices; Riga, Liesma Publ., 1978) *''Iesien baltā lakatiņā'' (Tie it into a White Cloth; Riga, Liesma Publ., 1986) *''Sēkla sniegā'' (Seed in the Snow; Riga, Liesma Publ., 1990)

References

1936 births 2022 deaths Writers from Riga 20th-century Latvian poets Translators to Latvian University of Latvia alumni Latvian translators Latvian journalists Soviet dissidents 20th-century translators Recipients of the Cross of Recognition Officer's Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Latvian male poets 20th-century male writers Maxim Gorky Literature Institute alumni {{Latvia-writer-stub