Kārlis Baumanis (11 May 1835 – 10 January 1905), better known as Baumaņu Kārlis, was an ethnic Latvian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

in the Russian Empire. He is the author of the lyrics and music of ''

Dievs, svētī Latviju! "" (; "God Bless Latvia!") is the national anthem of Latvia. Created in 1873 as a patriotic song, it did not gain official status until 1920. History and composition The music and lyrics were written in 1873 by Kārlis Baumanis, a teacher who ...

'' (“God bless Latvia!”), the national anthem of

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 ...

. Kārlis Baumanis was the first composer to use the word “Latvia” in the lyrics of a song, in the 19th century, when Latvia was still a part of the Russian Empire.

Biography

Kārlis Baumanis was born on 11 May 1835, in Viļķene (Wilkenhof), in the family of peasants Jekab and Anna Baumanis. He created the Latvian national anthem "God bless Latvia" in 1870. He lived and worked in

Limbaži Limbaži (, et, Lemsalu, german: Lemsal, liv, Limbaž) is a town in the Vidzeme region of northern Latvia. Limbaži is located 90 km northeast of the capital Riga. The population is 6888 people. During the Middle Ages, as part of Livonia, ...

(Lemsal) as a teacher and a journalist. An important milestone in his life was the election of the Speaker of the Riga Latvian Society and the Member of the Singing Commission in 1870, where he participated gigantically in the preparation of the First General Latvian Singing Festival. In the same year, he married Marija Carolini Elizabeth, the daughter of Ferdinand von Vite, the tenant of Sāra manor, and was a German teacher at the prestigious Smolny Institute of Exotic Nursery. In 1871, he completed the composition studies with the Czech musician Voiceha Hlavach. On November 14, 1872, his daughter, Lilia Elizabeth, was born. In 1873, he was rewarded for his success in pedagogical work by the Holy Spirit. Anna's Order. Kārlis Baumanis died on 11 January 1905, in Limbaži at the age of 69.

References

Baumanis, Karlis biography - S9.com
1835 births 1905 deaths People from Limbaži Municipality People from Kreis Wolmar 19th-century classical composers 19th-century Latvian people 20th-century classical composers Latvian people from the Russian Empire Composers from the Russian Empire Latvian composers National anthem writers Russian Romantic composers {{latvia-composer-stub