Birzniek-Up, Ernest

Ernest Birzniek-Upit was born on April 6, 1871 in the Bisnieki manor of the Dzirtsiemsky volost of the Tukkum district (now Zentensky volost of the Tukum region ), in the peasant family of Theodor Birzniek.

He studied at the Tukkum city school (1887-1889), after which he passed the exam for the right to teach.

A national teacher by profession, wandered a lot both in Latvia and in Russia , Birzniek-Upit with great knowledge and with great love reflected in his stories the life of a working people. Continuing the traditions of the realistic novel, the best Latvian novelist Rudolf Blaumanis , Birzniek-Upit in his stories gives a true, realistic reflection of the reality surrounding him.

His best stories are dedicated to the peasantry. With great skill, he gives a whole gallery of images of the poor, toilers, peasants and farm laborers , “gray fist barons”. His best stories are a clear accusation of the existing order. All the writer's sympathies are on the side of a small, inconspicuous worker, exploited and oppressed.

Especially strong are his stories on the 1905 Revolution , where Birzniek-Upit with great skill and understanding shows the tragedy of the Latvian peasantry in the 1905 revolution.

The best works of Birzniek-Upit include “Pelēkā akmens stāsti” (Gray Stone Stories), “Pret vakaru” (Towards evening), “Pastariņa dienasgrāmata” (Diary of the Youngest Son), “Pastariņš skolā” (Youngest Son at School) and others. Many of them are firmly entrenched in literature for children and youth.

He died on December 30, 1960 . He was buried at the Lielupsky cemetery of Jurmala .

• In 1972, the Bisnieki memorial house-museum was opened in the writer's homeland ^[1] .
• In 1971, the USSR postage stamp dedicated to Birzniek-Upit was issued.
• The first Tukum primary school is named after Ernest Birzniek-Upit.
• One of the streets of Riga is named after Ernest Birzniek-Upit.

• Upit's Tales (1900)
• “In the morning” (1912)
• “In the Evening” (1913)
• "Tales of the Gray Stone" (1914).
• "In the Caucasus Mountains" (1924)
• Caucasian Stories (1927)
• “Tales of Nina” (vols. 1–2, 1922–24)
• “Our Friends” (1925)
• The Diary of Pastarin (1922)
• “Shepherd at school” (1923)
• “Shepherd in life” (1924)

• Order of the Three Stars, IV Degree (1927)
• Order of Lenin (01/03/1956)
• People's writer of the Latvian SSR (1947)

• Riga: Encyclopedia = Enciklopēdija "Riga" / Ch. ed. P.P. Eran. - 1st ed .. - Riga: Main Edition of Encyclopedias, 1989. - P. 193. - 880 p. - 60,000 copies. - ISBN 5-89960-002-0 .

• Ernest Birzniek-Upitis on the website of the Latvian Central Children's Library (Latvian)

The article is based on the materials of the Literary Encyclopedia of 1929-1939 .