Andrejs Pumpurs ( on the left bank of the

Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

, in Lieljumprava civil parish, now

Birzgale Parish Birzgale Parish ( lv, Birzgales pagasts) is an administrative territorial entity of the Ogre Municipality, Latvia. The entire parish is on the left bank of the Daugava, in the region of Semigallia. The parish borders with Tome Parish, Vecumnie ...

– 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 Ba ...

) was a

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who penned the Latvian epic

Lāčplēsis ''Lāčplēsis'' ("The Bear-Slayer") is an epic poem by Andrejs Pumpurs, a Latvian poet, who wrote it between 1872 and 1887 based on local legends. It's set during the Livonian Crusades telling the story of the mythical hero Lāčplēsis "th ...

(''The Bear Slayer'', first published in 1888) and a prominent figure in the

Young Latvia movement New Latvians ( lv, jaunlatvieši) is the term most often applied to the intellectuals of the First Latvian National Awakening ( lv, Tautas atmoda), active from the 1850s to the 1880s. The movement was modeled on the Young Germany (german: Junges ...

. Working in the land before volunteering to fight in Serbia against the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

in 1876, he became a loyal officer in the Russian army and also a staunch promoter of the Latvian culture.

Biography

Growing up on both banks of the

river, he was one of three children from the civil parish chosen by the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

minister for the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

class of the church school in

Lielvārde Lielvārde (; german: Lennewarden), population 5885, is a town in Ogre Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava river, 52 km southeast of Riga. History The area was a contact zone between the Finnic L ...

. Unable to continue his education after completion of the three-year course, due to his family's poverty, but working as a raftsman and doing odd jobs with his father, Pumpurs was exposed to the Latvian oral tradition, especially strong in the region of his birth, and to the legends that would be at the forefront of his works. His first poems and early sketches for the epic were written in Piebalga, a rural center of Latvian education and cultural life, between 1867 and 1872. After a brief period in Riga, he left for

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

in 1876 and was introduced to the Slavophile Ivan Aksakov and the editor

Mikhail Katkov Mikhail Nikiforovich Katkov (russian: Михаи́л Ники́форович Катко́в; 13 February 1818 – 1 August 1887) was a conservative Russian journalist influential during the reign of tsar Alexander III. He was a proponent of Rus ...

by Fricis Brīvzemnieks (Treuland). Pumpurs became the third Latvian to volunteer to fight with the

Serbs The Serbs ( sr-Cyr, Срби, Srbi, ) are the most numerous South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans in Southeastern Europe, who share a common Serbian ancestry, culture, history and language. The majority of Serbs live in their na ...

and their

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

allies against the

Turks Turk or Turks may refer to: Communities and ethnic groups * Turkic peoples, a collection of ethnic groups who speak Turkic languages * Turkish people, or the Turks, a Turkic ethnic group and nation * Turkish citizen, a citizen of the Republic ...

, his experiences in

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

strongly influencing his already fervent

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

. His military career took him to

Sevastopol Sevastopol (; uk, Севасто́поль, Sevastópolʹ, ; gkm, Σεβαστούπολις, Sevastoúpolis, ; crh, Акъя́р, Aqyár, ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea, and a major port on the Black Sea ...

and he received an officer's education in

Odessa Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...

. In 1882 he returned to the

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a Baltic governorate of the Russian Empire, now divided between Latvia and Estonia. Geography The shape of the province is a fairly rectangular in shape, with a maximum ...

in what became the Ust-Dvinsk Regiment, participating in secret meetings of the

Narodnaya Volya Narodnaya Volya ( rus, Наро́дная во́ля, p=nɐˈrodnəjə ˈvolʲə, t=People's Will) was a late 19th-century revolutionary political organization in the Russian Empire which conducted assassinations of government officials in an att ...

movement. From 1895 he worked for the

quartermaster Quartermaster is a military term, the meaning of which depends on the country and service. In land armies, a quartermaster is generally a relatively senior soldier who supervises stores or barracks and distributes supplies and provisions. In m ...

in Dvinsk (now

Daugavpils Daugavpils (; russian: Двинск; ltg, Daugpiļs ; german: Dünaburg, ; pl, Dyneburg; see other names) is a state city in south-eastern Latvia, located on the banks of the Daugava River, from which the city gets its name. The parts of the c ...

), traveling widely to supply the Russian army, until he died of

rheumatism Rheumatism or rheumatic disorders are conditions causing chronic, often intermittent pain affecting the joints or connective tissue. Rheumatism does not designate any specific disorder, but covers at least 200 different conditions, including art ...

after a trip to

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. File:Andrejs Pumpurs 2016 stamp of Latvia.jpg, Pumpurs on a 2016 stamp of Latvia File:Andrejs Pumpurs bust in Daugavpils2.JPG, Memorial in

References

*Vikors Hausmanis, ed.: ''Latviešu rakstniecība biogrāfijās.'' Rīga: LZA, 1992. *Anita Rožkalne, project manager: ''Latviešu rakstniecība biogrāfijās.'' Second revised and expanded edition. Rīga: Zinātne, 2003. *Teodors Zeiferts: ''Latviešu rakstniecības vēsture.'' Rīga: 1922—available a
the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory of the University of Latvia website
*Arveds Švābe: ''Latvijas vēsture 1800–1914''. Uppsala: Daugava, 1958. *Arveds Švābe, ed.: ''Latvju enciklopēdija''. Stockholm: Trīs Zvaigznes, 1952–1953.

External links

* * *
A translation of ''Lāčplēsis'' into English by Arthur Cropley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pumpurs, Andrejs 1841 births 1902 deaths People from Ogre Municipality People from Kreis Riga 19th-century Latvian poets Poets from the Russian Empire Male writers from the Russian Empire Russian male poets 19th-century Latvian people 19th-century writers from the Russian Empire 19th-century poets from the Russian Empire 19th-century male writers from the Russian Empire Latvian male poets Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878) Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian)