Rūdolfs Blaumanis

Rūdolfs Kārlis Leonīds Blaumanis (1862–1908) was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history, particularly a master of the literary realism. Rūdolfs Blaumanis was born in Ērgļi, Latvia to a family of servants in the local manor, father Matīss Blaumanis – a cook, and his mother Karlīne – a housemaid. Until 1875, he studied in a private school in Ogre parish and went on to study in a German merchant school until 1881. Blaumanis' first story Wiedergefunden/Found Again was published in 1882 in a German newspaper Zeitung für Stadt und Land. In 1886, his first poem in Latvian Nakts/Night was published. From 1887 until 1889, he lived in his childhood home and wrote several novels both in Latvian and German. In 1889, he moved to Riga and wrote for a newspaper about Latvian cultural affairs. In 1890, his first play Zagļi/Thieves was staged in Riga. For a brief period, he worked in the New Current movement's main newspaper Dienas Lapa where he published satire criticising romanticism. In 1901, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he led a satirical section of the famous Latvian newspaper Pēterburgas avīzes. In 1904, due to the financial and health problems, he returned to Latvia. In this period, he wrote some of his most famous plays. Among Blaumanis' most notable works are his play comedy Skroderdienas Silmačos/The Tailor Days at Silmači (1902), and his dramas Indrāni (1904) and Ugunī/In Fire (published 1905, staged 1906). Blaumanis drama is characterized by sharp conflict caused by contradicting characters and inner struggles. Although Blaumanis was not directly involved in the Revolution of 1905, he supported writers who were. In 1908 his health started to decline, and although with the help of fellow Latvian writers he was able to go to Finland for treatment, his state was already critical and he died on 4 September 1908 in the Punkaharju sanatorium for tubercular patients. He was buried in Ērgļi, and a House-Museum for Rūdolfs Blaumanis was opened in Braki, his childhood home, in 1959. Blaumanis' stories have been adapted for many films and animations.
 

Tales, short stories and novellas
Velniņi [The Little Devils] (1928)
Koka krusts [Wooden Cross] (1907)
Kā Jānis mācījies par kalēju [How Janis Learned to be a Carpenter] (1907)
Mēmais precinieks [The Mute Bridegroom] (1907)
Vecais cenzors [The Old Censor] (1907)
Stulbenis [The Fool] (1904)
Dziru Miķelis [Miķeis from Dziras] (1901)
Mopsis jeb Nelaime Tērbatas ielā [The Pooch, or the Misfortune on Tērbata Street] (1900)
Nāves ēnā [In the Shadow of Death] (1899)
Andriksons (1899)
Salna pavasarī [Frost in Spring] (1898)
Purva bridējs [Through the Marshland] (1898)
Laimes klēpī [On the Lap of Fortune] (1898)
Stāsts par cūku, kura runājuse [A Tale about the Talking Pig] (1895)
Īstā līgaviņa [The Betrothed Bride] (1890)
Raudupiete (1889)
Kā vecais Zemītis pašu nelabo redzējis [How Zemītis saw the Devil Himself] (1889)
Spijēnos [In Spijēni] (1888)
Aizvien lillā [Still Purple] (1888)
Paradīzē [In Paradise] (1887)
Pērkoņa negaiss [Thunderstorm] (1887)
Nezāle [The Weeds] (1887)

Plays
Sestdienas vakars [Saturday Evening] (1908)
Ugunī [In Fire] (1905)
Indrāni [The Indrāni Home] (1904)
Skroderdienas Silmačos [The Tailor Days in Silmači] (1902)
No saldenās pudeles [From the Sweet Bottle] (1901)
Potivāra nams [Potivaire's House] (1897)
Trīnes grēki [Trine's Sins] (1897)
Zelta kupris [The Golden Toad] (1895)
Maija [Maija] (1893)
Pazudušais dēls [The Lost Son] (1893)
Ļaunais gars [The Evil Spirit] (1892)
Zagļi [Thieves] (1891)

Poetry
Tālavas taurētājs [Tālava] (1902) 
Veca dziesma [The Old Song] (1902)
Ceļa malā [At the Side of the Road] (1900)

Satirical prose
Īsa pamācība mīlēšanā [A Short Lesson in Love] (1907)
Jocīgi kapu uzraksti [Silly Gravestones] (1907)
Labāko famīliju dzejnieks [The Poet of Best Families] (1894)

José de María Romero Barea, about Latvian literature // Romero Barea escritor blog, 2020 [ES; EN]

Janis Rozentāls and Rūdolfs Blaumanis Museum // Association of Memorial Museums of Latvia [EN; LV]

Rūdolfs Blaumanis, about the author // Braki Museum website [EN; LV]

Rūdolfs Blaumanis // Online Library of Latvian Literature, Letonika.lv [LV]

About Purva Bridējs, the film // Latvijas Filmas [LV; RU]

Zoé Théval.Rūdolfs Blaumanis: as if in a disturbing gray area (In the shadow of death) // Diacritik, January, 2025 [FR]

Zoé Théval. Interview: Rūdolfs Blaumanis by his translator, Nicolas Auzanneau // Diacritik, January 2025 [FR]

Evlyne Leraut. In the Shadow of the Death, review // Evlyneleraut.canalblog, November 2024 [FR]

In the Shadow of the Death, review // Librairie-lba, October 2024 [FR]

In the Shadow of the Death, review // Etsionbouquinait, September 2024 [FR]

Isabelle Ruf. In the Shadow of the Death, review // Letemps, August 2024 [FR] 

In the Shadow of the Death, review // Viduite.wordpress. June 2024 [FR]

In the Shadow of the Death, review // Passagealest.wordpress, May 2024 [FR]

LH Johnon, review of In the Shadow of Death // Didyoueverstopthinking.com, 2020 [EN]

Sabine Walther, review of In the Shadow of Death // Sabine Walther blog, 2020 [DE]

Anna Auziņa, Playing In the Shadow of Death, review of the Dirty Teatro staging of Blaumanis'  In the Shadow of Death // Online magazine Satori, 2014 [LV]

Marciana Krauze about Blaumanis' works // LA.lv, 2013 [LV]

2013, Anna Kuzina, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for best research publication, for Blaumanis tuvplāna/Blaumanis in Close-up (pub. in 2013 by Madris)

2008, Līvija Volkova, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for best research publication, for Blaumaņa zelts/Blaumanis' Gold (pub. in 2008 by Karogs)