Augusts Deglavs

Augusts Deglavs (1862—1922) is considered one of the foundational figures of novel-writing in Latvian literature. He was born at Vīganti homestead in Šķilbe parish (Jelgava County). His parents owned a farm where the author worked in his youth. He completed Auri Parish School, lived in Rīga, and worked at the Augusts Dombrovskis sawmill in Vecmīlgrāvis. He worked at several newspapers, was a civil servant, and was involved with the Rīga Latvian Society and the “Auseklis” temperance society. He gained notoriety in 1891 when the newspaper “Baltijas Vēstnesis” published his story “Vecais pilskungs” (The Old Manor Lord), which was about life during the period of corvée labour in Latvia. From this point onward, Deglavs was primarily a writer and journalist. After the First World War he was the editor of the St. Petersburg newspaper “Jaunā Dienas Lapa” and later was actively involved in the founding of the Latvian Democratic Party (1917). He died of tuberculosis in Rīga.

Rīga: II daļa. Labākās familijas [Riga: Part II. The Best Families] (1921)

Rīga: I daļa. Patrioti [Riga: Part I. Patriots] (1911)

Zeltenīte [Golden Girl] (1896)

Liesma [Flame] (1898)

Jaunā pasaule [The New World] (1897-1898)

Starp divām ugunīm [Between Two Fires] (1891)

Saulcerīte Viese, Augusts Deglavs - karavīrs, about the author // Latvijas Vēstnesis magazine, 2004 [LV]

Hamilkars Lejiņš, review of Golden Girl // Jaunā Gaita magazine, 1969 [LV]