Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš

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Memorial stone by the sculptor Robert Ittermann for Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš in Körbecke. The inscription Piemini Latviju (Commemoration of Latvia) is the title of an essay from 1949.

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš (born August 25, 1877 in Nereta , Kurland Governorate ; † August 28, 1962 in Körbecke ) was a Latvian writer and painter who fled to Germany in 1944 from the advancing Soviet army . In addition to novels and short stories, his work also includes dramas, poetry and translations.

Life

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš was born in the southern Latvian village of Nereta, not far from the Lithuanian border. The father, a farm laborer, died before Jānis' third birthday. Because of the death, the family moved to the Riekstiņi homestead to live with their mother's parents. The 100 stories of his most famous book, Baltā grāmata (The White Book) , were drawn from memories of everyday life at Riekstiņi and from the impressions Jānis took there as a child (he lived there from 1880 to 1886 ). From 1880 to 1886 Jānis served as a shepherd boy on various farms in Nereta. Memories of this time flowed into the 80 stories of the book Zaļā grāmata (The Green Book). Jānis, because he had to work in spring, summer and winter, could only attend the community school in winter.

Thanks to his talent, Jaunsudrabiņš learned German and Russian. This enabled him to attend an agricultural school from 1895 to 1897. He then worked as an administrator on estates belonging to the Baltic German nobility. During this time he made his first attempts as a writer and painter.

In 1899 he gave up his activity as a land manager and studied at the private art school of Benjamin Blum ( Blumschen drawing school , Latvian: Venjamiņa Blūma Rīgas zīmēšanas un gleznošanas skola ) in Riga , where Janis Rozentāls taught. In 1901 he married his childhood sweetheart Līze Sproģe; In 1902 their daughter Lilija was born. Jaunsudrabiņš worked during these years as an editor, writer and drawing teacher in Riga and began to make a name for himself as a painter. In 1908 a patron made it possible for him to study for two semesters as a master class student with Lovis Corinth in Berlin. Returned to Riga, reported on art exhibitions for various newspapers, participated in group exhibitions and also sent solo exhibitions.

Jaunsudrabiņš was best known as a narrator. In 1907 he published his first novel, Vēja ziedi (Flowers of the Wind). His success as a writer enabled him to buy a house in Pļaviņas in 1913 . When German troops advanced into the Baltic Sea governorates during World War I , the Russian authorities evacuated parts of the Latvian population. Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš lived in Baku with his family from 1915 to 1918. His wife Līze died in 1921, and the following year he married Elza Zīverte.

In the 1920s, Jaunsudrabiņš was the most widely read Latvian writer. In addition to his books and articles in magazines and newspapers, he reached his audience through radio, which had emerged in that decade.

In view of the occupation of Latvia by the USSR, Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš fled to Germany with his wife Natālija (Nāte) in autumn 1944. The escape from Latvia is the subject of the autobiographical work Es stāstu savai sievai ( I tell my wife ). The Jaunsudrabiņš couple came to a DP camp in Greven via intermediate stops in Bielefeld , where his daughter's in-laws lived, in Bünde and Werfen . In Bünde and above all in Greven he experienced the beginnings of the self-organization of the Latvian refugees.

In 1948 the Jaunsudrabiņš couple finally came to Körbecke in the Sauerland , where they had warmed up a small house. Jaunsudrabiņš spent the rest of his life in this moonlit house on the southern shore of Lake Möhnese , which over the years has become a meeting place for Latvian compatriots and Westphalian artists and writers. Jaunsudrabiņš also worked as a high school teacher and journalist in Germany. Numerous Westphalian newspapers, magazines and local calendars published articles by Jaunsudrabiņš.

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš died in 1962 at the age of 85. He was buried in baskets. When the cemetery in Körbecke was closed in 1997, the remains of the poet, his wife and daughter Lilija (1902–1969) were transferred to Nereta.

plant

Postage stamp with the signature Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš. The picture shows the catch of crayfish, as the author experienced it in his youth and how he reproduces it in his book Baltā grāmata .

In his realistic, always humorous prose, Jaunsudrabiņš tells about the life of simple people. His language is also plain and straightforward; he has been compared to Mark Twain and Thomas Hardy . He was a master of the little form. His haunting descriptions of nature reveal the painter's eyes. He also incorporated fairytale elements into his prose. In the 1920s Jaunsudrabiņš was the most widely read prose writer in Latvia. His books have been reissued since the late 1950s. Today they are part of the canon of Latvian literature.

Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš is also known to his compatriots for his numerous translations into Latvian.

Honors

  • By 1944 Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš received several awards from the Republic of Latvia , including an honorary salary .
  • In 1952 the author was honored by the International PEN Club in Stockholm for his life's work.
  • The Riekstiņi homestead near Nereta currently houses the only museum in Latvia dedicated to Jaunsudrabiņš.
  • In 2001 a memorial room was set up in Körbecke, in which paintings, photos, the library, furniture and a bust of the writer can be seen.

Works (selection)

  • Aija (Aija, Riga 1911) / Atbalss (Echo, Riga 1920) / Ziema (Winter, Riga 1925), novel trilogy
  • Baltā grāmata (The White Book), Literary Miniatures, two volumes, Riga 1914 and 1921 respectively
  • Zaļā grāmata (The Green Book), two volumes, Riga 1950/51; Continuation of The White Book
  • Nāves deja (Dance of Death ), novel, Riga 1924
  • Jaunsaimnieks un Velns (The young landlord or farmer or new farmer or landlord and the devil), Roman, Riga 1933
  • Nauda (Das Geld), Roman, Riga 1939 (unpublished German translation by the author)

Publications in German

  • Aija . Roman, translated by Oskar Grosberg . Gulbis Publishing House, Riga 1922.
  • Cranes over the Möhnesee and stories from Latvia. With drawings by the poet , Verlag Aschendorff, Münster 1972 (posthumously), contains eight short stories written in German as well as excerpts from the White Book (translated by Willi Stöppler ) and from the Green Book (translated by Māra Linde).
  • Home . Some stories from the White Book , translated by Willi Stöppler. Self-published, Werther 1982.
  • Stories from the Möhnesee . Six stories written in German. Issue 5 of the series of publications of the Heimatverein Möhnesee, Körbecke 1982.
  • I tell my wife about the escape from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia (German by Ojārs Jānis Rozītis, original title: Es stāstu savai sievai ). Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-8309-1748-9 .
  • Neuwirt und Teufel (excerpt from Jaunsaimnieks un velns ) in the daily Rigasche Post from January 18, 1937.
  • The sheep dealer (miniature from Baltā grāmata ) in the daily newspaper Rigasche Post on November 18, 1937.
  • Kienspäne (miniature from Baltā grāmat a) in the daily newspaper Rigasche Post on November 18, 1937.
  • Evening of the week in Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland on June 3, 1944.
  • Welta Ehlert (ed. And transl.): Under the wing of a bird. Latvian stories from nine decades . Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin 1978 (contains six miniatures from the White Book ).
  • Elfriede Eckardt-Skalberg (ed. And translator): Latvian poetry. An anthology . Gulbis Verlag, Riga 1920 (contains eight poems by Jaunsudrabiņš, pp. 153–162; digitized in the Internet Archive ).

Translations into Latvian (selection)

The year refers to the publication of the translation.

  • Knut Hamsun : Pan (Pan), 1906 (new editions 1927 and 1935)
  • Paul Barsch : Pasaules gājējs (From One Who Set Out , novel in 2 vols.), 1909
  • Knut Hamsun: Noveles (short stories), 1910
  • Gustaf af Geijerstam : Grāmata par brālīti ( The Little Brother's Book. Novel of a Marriage ), 1908
  • Bernhard Kellermann : Jūra (The Sea), published 1911 (new editions 1919 and 1927)
  • Max Dauthendey : Astoņas sejas pie Biva ezera (Eight Faces on Lake Biwa), 1913
  • Ludwig Wolff : Sirds, ko nesalauza mīla (German original title uncertain), 1926
  • Charles de Coster : Pūcesspieģelis (Ulenspiegel or Eulenspiegel), 1927 (new editions 1961 and 1986)
  • Džons Galsworti ( John Galsworthy ): Mīlas vergi (lit. "slaves of love"; original title: Beyond , 1917, German title: Jenseits , around 1925)
  • Bernhard Kellermann: Tunelis ( The Tunnel ), 1928
  • Andreas Haukland: Likteņa dieves (goddesses of fate), 1929
  • Katrin Holland : Sudraba mākonis (The Silver Cloud), 1933
  • Andreas Haukland: Alnis (The Elk), 1935
  • Conrad Ferdinand Meyer : Vēsturiskas noveles (historical short stories), 1942; contains amulets (The Amulet), Plauts sieviešu klosterī (Plautus in the nunnery), Gustava Ādolfa pāžs (Gustav Adolfs Page), Soģe (The Judge) and Kāda zēna ciešanas (The Suffering of a Boy)

Film adaptations

  • 1959: Atbalss (Echo). Director: Varis Krūmiņš. ( Based on the trilogy Aija / Atbalss / Ziema ).
  • 1977: Puika (boy). Directed by Aivars Freimanis (based on the book Baltā grāmata ).
  • 1981: Vēja ziedi ( Wind Flowers ). Director: Daina Dumpe (movie based on the novel of the same name).
  • 1986: Kā mēs aizgājām no mājām (How we left home). Directed by Pēteris Krilovs (30-minute short film based on the book Es stāstu savai sievai ).
  • 1987: Aija (Aya). Director: Varis Brasla (two-part television production based on the book of the same name).
  • 2000: Saldā indes garša (The taste of the sweet poison). Director: Inta Gorodecka (TV series based on the novel Jaunsaimnieks un velns ).

literature

in order of appearance

  • Andris Bērziņš: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš , Västerås 1952.
  • Ojārs Jēgens (ed.): Tā mums iet. Jānim Jaunsudrabiņam adresētas vēstules 1944–1954 (This is how we are. Letters to Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš 1944–1954). Copenhagen 1956 ( digitized ).
  • Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: Mana dzīve , Västerås 1957.
  • Margrieta Dombrovska: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš , in: Latviešu literatūras vēsture , Volume 4, Riga 1957, pp. 307-324.
  • Ernests Blese: Storia della letteratura lettone , in: Giacomo Devoto (Ed.): Storia della letteratura baltiche , Milan 1957.
  • Margrieta Dombrovska: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš , in: Istorija latysskoj literatury , Volume 1, Riga 1971, pp. 411–419.
  • Jānis Rudzītis: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš , in: Ders .: Starp provinci un Eiropu , Västerås 1971, pp. 47–54.
  • Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: Sirmā grāmata. Jāņa Jaunsudrabiņa darbi, atmiņas, apceres, piemineklis , Verlag Ziemeļblāzma, Västerås 1972; therein some chapters with translations into German by Willi Stöppler (there Vilis Šteplers ).
  • Jānis Rudzītis: Rakstnieks no Dieva žēlastības , in: Ders .: Raksti , Västerås 1977, pp. 93–98.
  • Saulcerīte Viese: Rīta gaismas pieskāriens , in: Radīšanas brīnums , Riga 1980, pp. 16-25.
  • Arvīds Grigulis: Jāņa Jaunsudrabiņa dzīve un literāra darbība , in: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: Kopoti raksti , Volume 1, Riga 1981, pp. 5-26.
  • Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš in Westphalia = Jaunsudrabiņš Vestfālē , Münster 1982 (bilingual).
  • Austra Rudzīte: Pa Jaunsudrabiņa pēdam Vestfālē. Paplašināts prospekts, 1944.9.X. - 1962 , 28th VIII , Izdevis Jaunsudrabiņa Muzejs Minsterē, Münster 1982.
  • Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: Mana dzīve , in: Ders .: Kopoti raksti , Volume 15, Riga 1985, pp. 279-419.
  • Ilgonis Bersons: Jāņa Jaunsudrabiņa radoša mūža ritējums , in: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: Kopoti raksti , Volume 15, Riga 1985, pp. 430-492.
  • Austra Rudzīte: Jaunsudrabiņš no riekstiniem līdz mēnesnīcai , Münster 1988.
  • Antons Stankevičs: Zem Neretas debesīm , Riga 1988.
  • Wolfhard Raub: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš. Latvian poet and painter in exile in Westphalia , Münster 2002 (catalog for the exhibition by the University and State Library of Münster in collaboration with the Jaunsudrabiņš archive in Münster).
  • Benedikts Kalnačs (ed.): Vācu literatūra un Latvija (German literature and Latvia), Riga 2005.
  • Wolfhard Raub: Introductory remarks . In: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-8309-1748-9 , pp. 7-17.
  • Andreas Fülberth: The Latvian writer Janisjaunsudrabins and the stations of his exile in Westphalia. A consideration under regional historical aspects . In: Christian and Marianne Pletzing (eds.): Displaced Persons. Refugees from the Baltic states in Germany . Martin Meidenbauer, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-89975-066-9 , pp. 149-164.
  • Liene Lauska: Pēteris Ērmanis and Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš. The social and cultural integration of Latvian writers in Latvia and in German exile , Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-631-61087-9 .

Kindler's Neues Literaturlexikon cites further sources .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Wolfhard Raub: Introductory remarks . In: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, pp. 7–17, here p. 7.
  2. ↑ Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, p. 99.
  3. ↑ a b c Wolfhard Raub: Introductory remarks . In: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, pp. 7–17, here p. 8.
  4. ↑ Solo exhibition in the Riga City Museum. Critique by Guido Hermann Eckardt, 1928.
  5. ↑ a b Wolfhard Raub: Introductory remarks . In: Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, pp. 7–17, here p. 9.
  6. ↑ Rigasche Rundschau No. 154 of July 14, 1930: Morning on the radio : Sleepless night . Story by Jaunsudrabiņš. Rigasche Rundschau No. 55 of March 10, 1931: Tomorrow on the radio : stories by Jaunsudrabiņš.
  7. ^ Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland, November 1, 1943 Latvian radio play in German translation. Review by Martin Rockenbach
  8. ↑ Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš: I tell my wife about the flight from Latvia and the exile in Westphalia . Waxmann Verlag, Münster 2006, p. 13 and p. 119.
  9. ↑ Udo Bongartz: The man of letters in the moonlight house . In: Latvian Press Review , July 9, 2011, accessed October 13, 2012.
  10. ^ Andreas Fülberth: The Latvian writer Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš and the stations of his exile in Westphalia. A consideration under regional historical aspects . In: Christian and Marianne Pletzing (eds.): Displaced Persons. Refugees from the Baltic states in Germany . Martin Meidenbauer, Munich 2007, pp. 149–164, here p. 157.
  11. ^ Andreas Fülberth: The Latvian writer Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš and the stations of his exile in Westphalia. A consideration under regional historical aspects . In: Christian and Marianne Pletzing (eds.): Displaced Persons. Refugees from the Baltic states in Germany . Martin Meidenbauer, Munich 2007, pp. 149–164, here p. 150.
  12. ↑ Bookrags , accessed 4 November 2011
  13. ↑ Kindler's New Literature Lexicon , Munich 1988 edition
  14. ↑ See e.g. E.g. the course catalog for the Baltic Philology course ( memento from August 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) at the Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster, winter semester 2006/2007, accessed on August 17, 2018.
  15. ↑ cf. Lauska, page 331.
  16. ↑ cf. Kalnačs, pp. 584, 601, 698.
  17. ↑ Nezūdams mantojums (Immortal Legacy. Translations into Latvian by Jaunsudrabiņš and translations into German by his son-in-law) in the exile newspaper LAIKS No. 70 of September 1, 1962.
  18. ↑ Jāņa Jaunsudrabiņa muzejs “Riekstiņi” (Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš Museum “Haus Riekstiņi”, Latvian; accessed on July 20, 2018).
  19. ↑ Old half-timbered house Stockebrand at the NRW Foundation (accessed on July 20, 2018).
  20. ↑ This new short, written in the first-person form of sketches of a farm are loud Kindler become a generic term in the Latvian literature.
  21. ↑ This sculptural depictions of the Russian Revolution and the oil city of Baku are loud Kindler of the main characters closely with psychological analyzes intertwined be reflected in their mental development, "the disintegration of the chaotic environment."
  22. ↑ An excerpt was published in 1935 in a translation by Willi Stöppler in the daily Rigasche Post under the title Neuwirt und Teufel .
  23. ↑ Jaunsudrabiņš's German translation was completed in 1961 as a manuscript under the title "Bauer und Teufel", but was rejected by the publisher. See Liene Lauska, p. 234
  24. ↑ The subject: A painter frees himself from his wife, who is submissive to money. In 1956 Jaunsudrabiņš translated the book into German, had it corrected by Josefa Berens-Totenohl and failed with the manuscript at the publisher. See Liene Lauska, p. 234.
  25. ^ German translation of the humorous story of his escape from Latvia.
  26. ↑ Rigasche Post of Jan. 18, 1935 : Excerpt from Der Jungwirt and the Devil under the title Neuwirt und Teufel .
  27. ↑ Rigasche Post No. 54 of Nov. 18, 1937: Two stories from the White Book : The Sheep Trader and Kienspäne .
  28. ^ Deutsche Zeitung im Ostland of June 3, 1944 : evening of the week . Story by Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš in the translation by Willi Stöppler.
  29. ↑ As a serial in the weekly Atpūta from № 68 (February 19, 1926), p. 4 .
  30. ↑ As a serial in the daily newspaper Jaunākās Ziņas from December 3, 1927, p. 6 (PDF; 10.6 MB)
  31. ↑ Filming began in Strazde in 1958, cf. N. Abramovs et al .: Kinoskatītāja rokasgrāmata A -Z ; Publishing house Galvenā enciklopēdiju redakcija, Rīga 1980, p. 277
  32. ↑ Atbalss in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  33. ↑ Puika in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  34. ↑ a b c PDF file ; contains, among other things, descriptions of the films based on works by Jaunsudrabiņš (Latvian)
  35. ↑ Aija in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data
SURNAME Jaunsudrabiņš, Jānis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jaunsudrabins, Janis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian poet and painter
DATE OF BIRTH August 25, 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Nereta , Courland Governorate
DATE OF DEATH August 28, 1962
Place of death Baskets