Vizma Belsevica
- Birth Date:
- 31.05.1931
- Death date:
- 06.08.2005
- Extra names:
- Vizma Belševica, Belševica, Белшевица, Визма
- Categories:
- Academician, Order of the Three Stars (Latvia), Poet, Translator
- Nationality:
- latvian
- Cemetery:
- Rīgas Raiņa kapi
Vizma Belševica was a Latvian poet, writer and translator. She was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
Belševica's father Jānis Belševics was a worker, but her mother Ieva Belševica (maiden name Cīrule) was a housewife. The family was relatively poor, as only one of the two spouses did paid work. Vizma's father had drinking problems, which aggravated when during the Great Depression he lost his job as a baker. Vizma Belševica was born on 30 May 1931, in prewar Riga, than the capital of democratic Latvia, where she spent most of her childhood. The city often is featured in her works, especially her most famous work—autobiographic trilogy "BILLE"—, but the time spent in Courland, on her relatives' small farm has also important role in her poetry and writings. Her son Klāvs Elsbergs was a famous Latvian poet in the 1980s and her second son Jānis is a writer as well.
Works
Vizma Belševica published her first poems in 1947; her first book of poetry appeared in 1955. Her most notable poetry collections are Jūra deg (The Sea is Burning, 1966), Gadu gredzeni (Annual Rings, 1969), Madarās (In My Lady's Bedstraw, 1976), Kamola tinēja (The Clew Winder, 1981), Dzeltu laiks (Autumn Time, 1987). Her short stories' collections are Ķikuraga stāsti (Stories from Kikurags, 1965), Nelaime mājās (Misfortune at Home, 1979), Lauztā sirds uz goda dēļa (Broken Heart on the Board of Honour, 1997).
During the post-Soviet period, Belševica wrote three semi-autobiographical books - stories about the girl Bille, following her life from the late 1930s, throughout the first year of Soviet occupation of Latvia (1940–41), the Nazi occupation (1941–45), and the first post-war years under Stalin's regime: Bille (Bille, 1992, 95), Bille un karš (initial title: Bille dzīvo tālāk) (Bille and War, 1996), Billes skaistā jaunība (The Wonderful Youth of Bille, 1999) - this trilogy has been recognized as one of the most important works of Latvian literature of all times. It has been translated into Swedish, but not in English.
Belševica's poetry and fiction has been translated in about 40 languages. Within the Soviet Union of the 1960s-1980s, several books of her selected poetry were published in Russian, Belarusian and Armenian. From the 1980s onwards, Belševica has been regularly present on the Swedish literary scene, (translator Juris Kronbergs), books of her poetry and Bille stories have enjoyed immense critical success and wide readership there.
Her Selected Poems have been published also in Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Selected Short Stories - in Russia, Georgia and Germany.
The Russian translation of the Bille trilogy has been published in Riga, Latvia.
In her work she criticized the situation of oppressed nations in Soviet Union, therefore from 1971 to 1974 she was not allowed to publish. Her name could not be mentioned in media.
Recognition
Receiving the Nobel prize was her childhood dream; she, as a poor but bright girl, spent much of her time reading classical literature. Belševica's work has been recognised: on December 6, 1990, she was elected honorary member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences; she has twice received the Spidola Award, which is the highest recognition in Latvian literature. Belševica has also received the highest award of the Latvian State, namely the Three Star Order.
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Source: wikipedia.org, Rīgas dome, news.lv
Title | From | To | Images | Languages | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
"Rakstnieku nams" | lv |
Relation name | Relation type | Description | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jānis Belševics | Father | ||
2 | Ieva Belševica | Mother | ||
3 | Klāvs Elsbergs | Son | ||
4 | Kārlis Belševics | Brother | ||
5 | Zigurds Elsbergs | Husband | ||
6 | Kārlis Elsbergs | Father in-law | ||
7 | Elizabete Elsberga | Mother in-law | ||
8 | Imant Auzins | Brother in-law | ||
9 | Rihards Belševics | Brother in-law | ||
10 | Irina Cigaļska | Relative | ||
11 | Ojars Vacietis | Friend | ||
12 | Leons Briedis | Coworker | ||
13 | Jevgeņijs Vanags | Coworker | ||
14 | Oļģerts Grāvītis | Familiar | ||
15 | Kira Verhovska | Familiar | ||
16 | Lauma Reinholde | Teacher | ||
17 | Yevgeny Yevtushenko | Studymate | ||
18 | Bella Ahmaduļina | Studymate | ||
19 | Niks Matvejevs | Idea mate | ||
20 | Uldis Bērziņš | Idea mate |
27.11.1895 | At the Swedish–Norwegian Club in Paris, Alfred Nobel signs his last will and testament, setting aside his estate to establish the Nobel Prize after he dies.
30.11.1919 | The Latvian National Theatre
14.10.1926 | The first collection book of Winnie-the-Pooh
09.09.1974 | Dibināta latviešu rokgrupa "Sīpoli"
19.04.1980 | Filmas "Tās dullās Paulīnes dēļ" pirmizrāde
11.08.1988 | Liepājas dzintars 88
23.04.1990 | LR Pilsoņu Kongresa vēlēšanas
1990. gada 8.-23. aprīlī notika LR Pilsoņu Kongresa vēlēšanas, kurās 707 772 iedzīvotāji (678 862 pilsoņi un 28 910 pilsoņu kandidāti) ievēlēja 232 delegātus
04.05.1990 | Restoration of Independence of the Republic of Latvia
09.09.2024 | Grūtībās nonācis rakstnieces Vizmas Belševicas dēls Jānis Elsbergs
"Ļaujiet man te nomirt!" - grūtībās nonācis rakstnieces Vizmas Belševicas dēls Jānis Elsbergs