Eriks Ādamsons

Eriks Ādamsons was born in Riga on June 22, 1907. In 1926 he entered the University of Latvia to study law. He made his first publication in 1924. In the 1930s he fully devoted himself to literature. Ādamsons also worked as translator (he spoke, in addition to his native Latvian, Russian, German, English and French). He married young Latvian writer Mirdza Ķempe in 1931, but their marriage broke apart shortly before WWII.

In the years of the German occupation he worked in a book store and also in lumbering. His works was banned by the German authorities, so he published under a pseudonym - Eriks Rīga. In those years his health declined and he caught tubercolosis. In 1943 he began collecting materials for a book about Kārlis Padegs, a Latvian painter. This work was never finished. In 1944 Eriks Ādamsons married the widow of Kārlis Padegs, Elvīra Berta Padega, who also suffered from tuberculosis. In 1945 they had a son Askolds, but he died after few months. In 1946 Ādamsons´ health declined very fast and he died in the Biķernieki sanatorium on February 28, 1946. He is buried at the Rainis Cemetery in Riga.

Dzejnieks un prozaiķis. E. Ādamsons studējis tieslietas Latvijas Universitātē (1924-1928), studijas pametis, lai nodarbotos ar rakstniecību un tulkošanu. Publicējas kopš 1924. gada. E. Ādamsona tulkojumā publicēti V. Šekspīra, O. Vailda, Dž.G. Bairona, R. Kiplinga darbi. 1931. gadā viņš apprecējās ar jauno dzejnieci un radiofona diktori Mirdzu Ķempi. Vācu okupācijas laikā E. Ādamsons nedrīkstēja publicēties ar īsto vārdu, tāpēc viņa vienīgais romāns “Sava ceļa gājējs” periodikā parādās ar pseidonīmu Ēriks Rīga. Kara gados Ādamsons strādā meža darbus, saslimst ar tuberkulozi un mirst padomju laikā. 1944. gadā E. Ādamsonam piešķirta Raiņa un Aspazijas piemiņas fonda prēmija.