Regina Ezera

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Regīna Ezera (born December 20, 1930 in Riga ; † June 11, 2002 at Ķegums ) was a Latvian writer.

biography

Ezera (feminine form of ezers = the lake) is a stage name. Her birth name is Regīna Šamreto , she was born as the daughter of a carpenter and a housewife. Her family came from Latgale on her mother's side , a Polish dialect was spoken at home , so she only learned Latvian at school. During the Second World War , the family spent a long time with relatives in the country, and Regīna Ezera later found these stays to be formative for her development. In 1944 she and her parents were deported to a refugee camp in Aken , Germany, and returned to Riga in 1945. In 1950 she finished middle school and studied journalism in Riga.

After marrying the former legionnaire Jēkabs Lasenbergs in 1951, Regīna Šamreto was now called Lasenberga , and in 1958 Kindzule after marrying the writer and translator Česlavs Kindzulis . Both marriages failed, she raised her three daughters (* 1951, 1955, 1957) largely alone.

At first she worked for magazines. Later she devoted herself entirely to her literary work. Her narratives are characterized by psychological intensity. Formal characteristics such as passages in the second person are typical. Animals often appear as protagonists. She has also published theoretical works and reviews of the works of other authors.

Regīna Ezera was politically active. In the 1960s she was a member of the Riga Council of Deputies ( Rīgas Deputātu padome ), 1976–1978 she sat on the local committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union . In the late 1970s and 1980s, Ezera represented the Latvian SSR in the Soviet Writers' Union .

Like many other cultural workers, Ezera was involved in the independence movement in her country from 1988 to 1989, which, however, also brought about upheavals in the literature business. Regīna Ezera recently lived in difficult economic circumstances, affected by health problems and depression, on the Brieži farm , Tomes pagasts near Ķegums . She died in 2002 and was buried in Tome. There is a memorial room in her courtyard in her honor.

Regīna Ezera's youngest daughter Aija Amoliņa from her second marriage has also emerged as a writer under the pseudonym Aija Vālodze .

Awards

After numerous honors during the time of the Latvian SSR , the independent Republic of Latvia awarded her the three-star medal in 1995 .

Novels and short stories (excerpt)

Her first short story was published in 1955. Her work includes a large number of short stories and novels, including the following in German translation:

  • 1975 Longing for snow. Stories. Translated by Welta Ehlert . Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin. Taken from the volumes Grieze, trakais putns [Crazy Wachtelkönig] (1970), Pavasara pērkons [Spring storm ] (1973), Stāsti [stories] (1973), all published by Liesma Verlag, Riga.
  • 1982 The man with the dog nose. Stories. Translated by Welta Ehlert. Verlag Volk und Welt, Berlin. Adapted from Cilvēkam vajag suni [people need dogs] (1975) and Slazds [trap] (1979), both published by Liesma, Riga.
  • 1986 Der Brunnen (Roman), Aufbau Verlag, translated by Welta Ehlert, original title Aka [Brunnen] 1972 Verlag Liesma, Riga.
  • 1987 The swing and other stories (Harro von Hirschheydt Verlag, translated by Jakob Bernstein) taken from the volumes Cilvēkam vajag suni [People need dogs] (1975) and Baraviku laika dullums [Madness during the porcini mushroom era] (1978), both published by Liesma , Riga.
  • 1991 Conversation with the Wolf ( Saruna ar vilku ). Short story in the anthology About literatures in the Soviet Union , published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation on the occasion of the German-Soviet writers' meeting in the Heinrich Böll House in Langenbroich, June 5-8 , 1991 , in which Regīna Ezera took part. Translated into German via Russian.

Movies

  • Gunārs Cilinskis filmed her novel "Aka" (Fountain) in 1976 as Ezera sonāte . The film was also shown in Germany as The Sonata vom See .
  • After her novel Pūķa ola (Dragon Egg) (Preses nams publishing house, Riga 1995), Tālivaldis Margēvičs made a television film in 1996 in which she appears as the author.

swell

  • Arnolds Markss: Latvia in words and pictures - today . Harro von Hirschheydt publishing house, Hannover-Döhren 1983.
  • Raimonds Briedis et al .: Latviešu literatūras vēsture, trešais sējums . Zvaigzne publishing house, Riga 2000. Published by Latvijas Universitātes Literatūras, folkloras and mākslas institūts
  • Ināra Stašulāne (Ed.): Latviešu rakstniecība biogrāfijās . Zinātne Publishing House, Riga 2003.
  • Ērika Zimule: Literatūra Rokasgrāmata skolēniem un studentiem . Zvaigzne Publishing House, Riga 2004.
  • Raimonds Briedis: Latviešu literatūras hronika, otrais sējums 1945–2005. Valters un Rapa publishing house, Riga 2006.
  • Sandra Meshkova: EZERA, Regina (born Šamreto) (1930-2002) in: Francisca de Haan, Krasimira Daskalova, Anna Loutfi: Biographical dictionary of women's movements and feminisms in Central, Eastern, and South Eastern Europe . Pp. 127-129 Central European University Press, 2006. ISBN 978-9637326394

Web links

literature