Adolfs Alunāns (11 October 1848 – 5 July 1912) was a Latvian

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

. For his efforts and hard work in progressing Latvian

Dramaturgy Dramaturgy is the study of dramatic composition and the representation of the main elements of drama on the stage. The role of a dramaturg in the field of modern dramaturgy is to help realize the multifaceted world of the play for a production u ...

he received the title "father of Latvian theater". In 1968, the

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

's Adolf Alunans memorial museum was built.

Childhood

Adolfs Alunāns was born in

, a town in

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(in present-day

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

). His parents were Peter Alunāns, a well-known Latvian journalist, and Otilia Alunāne, daughter of the mayor of Jelgava. In youth Alunāns went to the Academia Petrina gymnasium and in his free time was strictly schooled by his uncle

Juris Alunāns Juris Alunāns (official name Gustavs Georgs Frīdrihs Alunāns; May 13, 1832 – April 18, 1864) was a Latvian writer and philologist in the Russian Empire. He was one of the first contributors of the Latvian language. He was one of the members ...

(a famous Latvian poet). After finishing the gymnasium, he was very well educated. He often went to the city theater with his

grandfather Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, or Grandma and Grandpa, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a m ...

Julius Felcke, who was a big theater admirer. These theater attendances gave Alunāns a big interest in theater art, that he will be driven by his whole life.

Career

From 1866, he started working as an actor in German theater in Reval (now

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

) until 1870, when he was invited to lead the Latvian theater in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. While working in the Latvian theater he translated German plays to Latvian

language Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...

and wrote his own, searched for new actors and organized their learning. In 1885, Alunāns stepped down and returned to live in his hometown

, where he continued to work as an actor, writer and journalist. In 1896, he created his own theater, which successfully worked until 1904, when his health got worse. The artist died on 5 July 1912, in Jelgava where he was buried in cemeteries Jāņa Kapi (today Park d'Alunāns). In 1913, a monument was erected on its burial. Stolen twice in the time of independent Latvia, the bronze bas-relief executed by the sculptor Burkards Dzenis, the twice was found by the police in the spinning of scraps.

Most notable plays

* "Pašu audzināts" (1869) * "Priekos un bēdās" (1871) * "Mucenieks un muceniece" (1872) * "Icigs Mozes" (1874) * "Džons Neilands" (1881) * "Kas tie tādi, kas dziedāja" (1888) * "Lielpils pagasta vecākie" (1888) * "Seši mazi bundzenieki" (1889) * "Visi mani radi raud" (1891) * "Pārticībā un nabadzībā" (1893) * "Mūsu senči" (1905) * "Draudzes bazārs" (1911)

Other works

* "Zobgala kalendārs" (1892—1912) * "Ievērojami latvieši" (1–2, 1887–1890) * "Jura Alunāna dzīve" (1910) * "Atmiņas par latviešu teātra izcelšanos" (1924)

References

Latvian male stage actors Latvian male dramatists and playwrights Male actors from the Russian Empire Dramatists and playwrights from the Russian Empire 1848 births 1912 deaths People from Jelgava 19th-century Latvian male actors {{Latvia-writer-stub