“Today is My Birthday…” Aspazija Turns 160

On March 16, the eminent Latvian writer, cultural worker, and politician Aspazija turns 160 years old. In honor of this occasion, at the Rainis and Aspazija House (Riga, Baznīcas Street 30) on March 15, from 11:00 AM throughout the day, various stories about Aspazija will be shared, along with readings of new literary works.

At 11:00 AM, museum researcher Jānis Zālītis will discuss the theories, mysteries, and facts regarding the date and year of Aspazija's birthday, as well as talk about the guests and regulars on Baznīcas Street: Jānis Ziemeļnieks, Alma Saltupe, Vilis Veldre, Valdis Lukss, and others.

At 12:00 PM, museum specialist Astra Kacena will delve into Aspazija's memories, poems, and letters. “By nature, I am cheerful, only the burden of experiences has bent me like a wet branch,” Aspazija wrote about herself in the 1920s. In this conversation, we will shake this wet branch free of excess water weight!”

At 1:00 PM, museum specialist Solvita Lapiņa will talk about Aspazija's role and place in Soviet literary history and attempt to answer questions: what did the Soviet regime do with the inconvenient Aspazija? Is there a place for the works of “decadents,” “mere democrats,” and “life-weary women” in school curricula and literary research?

At 2:00 PM, Anna Auziņa will discuss Aspazija's youth until her relationship with Rainis – her life in Daukšas, Jelgava, and her time as a governess, as well as how this period influenced Aspazija’s early work. A significant factor in the poet’s personal development was her mother Margrieta Rozenberg's decision to provide her daughter with a good education. Since 2023, an exhibition at the Rainis and Aspazija House features a previously undisplayed photograph of Margrieta Rozenberg, which had long been stored away until the identity of the woman in the photograph was confirmed through habitological expertise.

At the end of the day, at 3:00 PM, in the courtyard hall, the event “We Read a Play” will take place. Students from the 3rd year of the Latvian Academy of Culture's Culture and Arts Studies and Drama and Text Studies programs Elizabete Bodniece, Dārta Priedniece, Ramona Rubene, Beatrise Luīze Norenberga, Madara Misiņa, Madara Kurzemniece, Marija Anna Zālīte, Aija Kļava, Loreta Kalniņa, Patrīcija Marija Keiša, Austra Litauniece, Anna Grabovska, Gerda Medne, Alise Ungure, Ilvita Liepiņa, and Anna Vīksna will read new literary works inspired by Aspazija’s dramaturgy under the guidance of lecturer Ivars Šteinbergs. The narrator will speak about the inspiration process, while the young poets will creatively and modernly interpret the characters, motifs, themes, and language of the play “Lost Rights” (1894).

Admission is free.