Regīna Ezera
Regīna Ezera | |
---|---|
Born | Rīga, Latvia | 20 December 1930
Died | 11 June 2002 , Latvia | (aged 71)
Occupation | Writer |
Regīna Ezera, the pen name of Regīna Šamreto (20 December 1930 – 11 June 2002), was a successful Latvian author of Polish origin who wrote more than 20 novels.[1] A recipient of the Order of the Three Stars, she suffered financially as a result of the end of communism, living in some poverty at the end of her life.
Biography
Born in Riga, Ezera was the daughter of a carpenter and a nurse. She was brought up in a small residence where her grandmother and aunt also lived. Her Catholic family spoke Polish and she did not learn Latvian until she was six and at school.[2]
In 1944, the family was deported to Germany but returned to Latvia in 1945. After
In the 1970s, she had been a member of the Riga Communist Party Committee and in the 1980s she continued to represent her country in the Union of Soviet Writers. In 1988, she joined the emerging movement to establish a Latvian state and this was achieved in 1990.[2] Although she was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 1995, she suffered financially as a result of the end of communism.[2] She had enjoyed state support for her work but under the new regime this was not available and she lived in some poverty at the end of her life.[2]
Since 1978, Ezera lived in her country house in Ķegums, Latvia. She died there on 11 June 2002. A partial third part of what was intended to be a four-part work called "Being" was published as well as Odes to Sadness in the year after her death.[2]
References
- ^ "Regīna Ezera" (in Latvian). Vieglas Smitis. Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
- ^ ISBN 9637326391.
- ^ a b "Regīna Ezera" (in Latvian). letonika.lv. Retrieved 18 February 2015.