Vilis LÄcis
Vilis Lācis (born 29 Apriljul / May 12 1904greg in Rinuzi (now Vecmīlgrāvis ) in Riga, .. † February 6, 1966 in Riga) was a Latvian politician and writer of the Soviet period.
Lācis was born into a working-class family. He first worked as a longshoreman in Riga and wrote only in his spare time. In 1933 he published the novel Zvejnieka dēls ( The fisherman's son ), who made him one of the most famous and best-selling author of the 1930s in Latvia. His novels were not getting the consent of intellectual critics, but met the taste of the masses and were read in wide circles of the population.
During this time Lācis was in contact with the operating in the underground Communist Party of Latvia, which had been banned after the coup in 1934 by Karlis Ulmanis. Because of these contacts he has at times been monitored by the Latvian secret. As Lācis but as a writer was always successful and one of the favorite authors Ulmanis ' was this personally ordered the destruction of the files. Lācis wrote editorials in which he supported the Ulmanis government, although he still was close to the Communists in secret, and it was generously bankrolled by the state. Among other things, as was an expensive film adaptation of Zvejnieka dēls.
Lācis ' connections to the communists were apparently after the occupation of Latvia by the Soviet Union. He was Prime Minister of the Latvian SSR, and served in that capacity 1940 until 1959. However, he had little power, since most of the actual decisions were made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. However, as Prime Minister, he was responsible for the Stalinist crimes against humanity and signed orders for the arrest and deportation of more than 40,000 people.
Lācis ' books have been translated into more than fifty languages, with the Russian translations achieved the highest requirements. To date, no other Latvian writer was translated more often.