Anšlavs Eglītis (October 14, 1906 – March 4, 1993) was a Latvian writer, journalist and painter who became a war refugee in 1944. He had a prolific career as a novelist, and his later work often examined aspects of exile life.

Biography

Anšlavs Eglītis was born in

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 B ...

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 ...

, the first of two children born to the writer Viktors Eglītis and the teacher and translator Marija Eglīte, née Stalbova. His father was one of the most notable representatives of Decadence in Latvian literature. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, his family lived in other parts of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the List of Russian monarchs, Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended th ...

, but returned to Latvia in 1918. For a short time they settled in Alūksne. After 1919, his family lived in

and Eglītis started his studies in Riga City gymnasium No. 2. He also studied painting in the studio of a Latvian painter

Voldemārs Tone Voldemārs is a Latvian masculine given name. It is a cognate of the Germanic "Waldemar". Voldemārs may refer to: * Voldemārs Elmūts (1910–1966), Latvian basketball player *Voldemārs Lūsis (born 1974), Latvian athlete, javelin thrower, Oly ...

at this time. The family spent all their summer holidays in Inciems cottage, which he later described in his novel ''Pansija pilī'' (1962). He caught

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in w ...

in 1925. His mother, who suffered pulmonary disease, died in 1926, during his stay in Leysin sanatorium. In 1930, his father remarried the artist and writer

Hilda Vīka Hilda Vīka (5 November 1897 – 14 February 1963), also known as Hilda Vīka-Eglīte, was a Latvian artist and writer. She made stylised watercolour and oil paintings of everyday life and dreamy visions. She wrote poetry, short stories and novels ...

, whose works and personality came to influence Anšlavs' literature. He continued his studies in the

Art Academy of Latvia The Art Academy of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Mākslas akadēmija) is an institution of higher education and scientific research in art, located in Riga, Latvia. The neo-Gothic brick building is located on Krišjānis Valdemārs Street, next to ...

and graduated in 1935. After graduation, he worked as a teacher of drawing. In 1936 his first collection of novels, ''Maestro'' was published. In 1938 Eglītis started to work as a

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

in the biggest Latvian newspaper ''

Jaunākās ziņas ''Jaunākās Ziņas'' (''The Latest News'') was a Latvian-language newspaper published in Riga from 1911 to 1940 and was the largest and most influential paper of its era.Terzis, Georgios. ''European Journalism Education''. Intellect Bristol, UK/C ...

''. In 1940, he also collaborated on the magazine ''Atpūta''. He left Riga for Courland in October 1944 and later fled to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, where he settled in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

. During the Battle of Berlin his flat was destroyed in an air raid, and Eglītis moved to Switzerland. In 1950, he moved to California, US. His father, writer Viktors Eglītis, was arrested, tortured and killed in the Cheka building in Riga in 1945. His grave is unknown. In his American exile, Eglītis wrote more than 50 novels and short stories. Parallel to his literature career he became a

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

and film critic for the Latvian newspaper ''Laiks'' published in Brooklyn, New York, which also serialized a number of his novels. In 1957, his ''Neierasta Amerika'' began to be serialized in the Soviet Latvian magazine ''Zvaigzne'', but it was immediately qualified as an 'import of bourgeois nationalism' and soon discontinued. The success of his works resides in their avangardist flavour combined with loyalty to the popular taste. In post-Soviet Latvia, his ''Shameless Old Men'', directed by Mihail Kublinskis, is one of the most successful productions of the National Theater. He died of cancer in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

in 1993. In 2006, the Latvian Post issued a commemorative stamp in honor of Eglītis. A monument to the writer was installed in 2008 in Inciems.

Sources

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eglitis, Anslavs Writers from Riga People from Kreis Riga 20th-century Latvian writers Latvian journalists 20th-century journalists Latvian World War II refugees Latvian emigrants to the United States Deaths from cancer in California 1906 births 1993 deaths