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Vizma Belsevica

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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.

Imants Kalniņš - Dūdieviņš

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.

Es aiziet nevaru - M. Zīvere - Mikrofons 1979

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.

RAIMONS PAULS - IMANTS SKRASTIŅŠ - Kamola tinēja / Наматывая жизни нить - MIKROFONS '80

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

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        Relation nameRelation typeBirth DateDeath dateDescription
        1
        Jānis BelševicsFather00.00.190700.00.1959
        2
        Ieva BelševicaMother00.00.191029.12.1999
        3Klāvs ElsbergsKlāvs ElsbergsSon03.01.195905.02.1987
        4
        Kārlis BelševicsBrother17.02.194215.07.2017
        5Zigurds ElsbergsZigurds ElsbergsHusband11.09.193204.11.2023
        6Kārlis ElsbergsKārlis ElsbergsFather in-law24.07.189713.04.1977
        7Elizabete ElsbergaElizabete ElsbergaMother in-law00.00.190110.02.1987
        8Imant AuzinsImant AuzinsBrother in-law13.11.193721.08.2013
        9
        Rihards BelševicsBrother in-law00.00.192900.00.2017
        10Irina CigaļskaIrina CigaļskaRelative18.05.193920.03.2021
        11Ojars VacietisOjars VacietisFriend13.11.193328.11.1983
        12Leons  BriedisLeons BriedisCoworker16.12.194901.02.2020
        13
        Jevgeņijs VanagsCoworker06.08.192212.06.1987
        14Oļģerts  GrāvītisOļģerts GrāvītisFamiliar30.08.192624.11.2015
        15Kira VerhovskaKira VerhovskaFamiliar00.00.190600.00.1980
        16Lauma ReinholdeLauma ReinholdeTeacher09.09.190609.07.1986
        17Yevgeny YevtushenkoYevgeny YevtushenkoStudymate18.07.193201.04.2017
        18Bella AhmaduļinaBella AhmaduļinaStudymate10.04.193729.11.2010
        19Niks MatvejevsNiks MatvejevsIdea mate13.02.195827.04.2014
        20Uldis BērziņšUldis BērziņšIdea mate17.05.194424.03.2021
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