Alfrēds Andersons (

pen name A pen name or nom-de-plume is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen name may be used to make the author's na ...

Andrass; 7 April 1879, in Dunte Manor,

Kreis Wolmar Valmiera county (, , ) was a historic county of Latvia. Its capital was Valmiera (''Wolmar''). History The county of Valmiera was created during the administrative territorial reform of the Governorate of Riga in 1783 by merging of parishes fr ...

– 1 February 1937, 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 ...

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 ...

) was a Latvian

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

litterateur An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the nature of reality, especially the nature of society and proposed solutions for its normative problems. Coming from the world of culture, either ...

, pedagogue, educational worker and the Mayor of Riga from 1921 to 1928. Even though Andersons graduated from the Riga Polytechnicum, his life mostly followed the path of education. From 1907 he taught in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

and

physics Physics is the scientific study of matter, its Elementary particle, fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge whi ...

at the schools of

Vilis Olavs Vilis Olavs (born ''Vilis Plute''; 18 May 1867 – 29 March 1917) was a Latvian political theorist, writer, and humanitarian who participated in the First Latvian National Awakening of the 19th century. Biography Vilis Olavs was born as Vili ...

and Atis Ķēniņs. During World War I Andersons managed factories in Riga that supplied the war effort. Following Latvian independence he became director of the 4. Riga Secondary School, and 1920 he was promoted to head of the educational department of the

Riga City Council Riga City Council () is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga City Council con ...

. Andersons was elected Mayor of Riga from 1921 to 1928 as a member of the Democrats Union, and after that he worked as a school director. In 1916 Andersons wrote the play ''Ķēniņš Dāvids'' ''(King David)'', which

premiere A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the ...

d 28 February 1923 at the

Latvian National Theatre The Latvian National Theatre () is one of the leading professional theatres in Latvia. The building is in the eclectic style and is an architectural and artistic monument. The country of Latvia was proclaimed in this building in the year 1918. O ...

. Another of his plays, ''Baltezeru dzimtas asinis'' ''(Baltezers' Family Blood)'', premiered 29 November 1933, also at the national theatre. He also translated the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's opera

Tannhäuser Tannhäuser (; ), often stylized "The Tannhäuser", was a German Minnesinger and traveling poet. Historically, his biography, including the dates he lived, is obscure beyond the poetry, which suggests he lived between 1245 and 1265. His name ...

to Latvian. Andersons died on 1 February 1937 in Riga, at the age of 58.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Andersons, Alfreds 1879 births 1937 deaths People from Livonia Mayors of Riga 20th-century Latvian writers Latvian translators Civil engineers Riga Technical University alumni 20th-century Latvian educators Latvian engineers