Jan Rainis

Jan Rainis (real name — Jānis Pliekšāns) was a Latvian poet, playwright, translator and public figure. He was born on 11 September 1865 in the Courland Governorate. He studied law at St. Petersburg University and began publishing in 1887. From 1891 to 1895 he worked as the editor of the newspaper Dienas Lapa.

In 1897 Rainis was arrested and imprisoned in the Riga provincial prison, where he completed his translation of Goethe's Faust. In December 1897 Rainis was exiled to Pskov, and in 1899 to the town of Slobodskoy in the Vyatka Governorate. There he produced the collection of poems 'Distant Echoes on a Blue Evening' (1903), imbued with revolutionary sentiments.

After returning from exile in 1903, Rainis actively took part in the activities of Latvian Social Democracy. He created a number of well-known works, including the drama 'Fire and Night' and the collection 'Sowing of the Storm'. At the end of 1905 he emigrated to Switzerland, where he wrote many poems and plays. Returning to Latvia in 1920, Rainis held important government positions, participated in drafting the Constitution and led the National Theatre. Jan Rainis died on 12 September 1929.