Edvarts Virza

Edvarts Virza (1883–1940), born Jēkabs Eduards Liekna, was a Latvian writer, journalist, and cultural politician. The eldest of nine children of a farming family, he was born near Iecava in Zemgale. After studying engineering in Riga and attending lectures in law in Moscow, he published his first poetry collection, Biķeris, in 1907. From 1918 onward, Virza worked for newspapers and journals and supported Latvian independence. In 1920–21 he headed the Latvian press office in Paris; later he edited the literary section of the party newspaper Brīvā Zeme and directed Riga’s Daile Theatre for several years. He is particularly remembered for Straumēni, written in 1933. Virza died in Riga in 1940.