Mirdza Ķempe

Mirdza Ķempe

Midza Ķempe as a young lady (1920)[1]
Born (1907-02-09)9 February 1907
Liepāja
Russian Empire
Died 12 April 1974(1974-04-12) (aged 67)
Riga
Latvian SSR
Occupation writer, poet, translator
Nationality Latvian
Spouse Eriks Ādamsons, Linards Naikovskis

Mirdza Ķempe (later Naikovska[2]) (9 February [O.S. 27 January] 1907, Liepāja – 12 April 1974, Riga) was a noted Latvian poet, translator and tutor.[3]

Biography

Mirdza Ķempe was born into a working-class family in Liepāja, Latvia. From 1914 to 1926 she lived in Tosmare at Ģen. Baloža st., 47; later she and her family lived at Bernatu st., 41 in Liepāja. In 1915–1919 she studied at the 1st Liepāja primary school (now the 5th Liepāja school). Ķempe graduated from the 1st Liepāja secondary school in 1925. Her first verse "Ne jums!" was published in the "Kurzemes Vārds" newspaper in 1923. In the same year she translated Pushkin's Mozart and Salieri into the Latvian language. In 1927 she entered the University of Latvia in Riga. Because of lack of money she had to drop out of the university and in 1928 Ķempe started to work as an continuity announcer for Rīgas radiofons. In 1931 she married writer Eriks Ādamsons.

She translated works from Russian, English, German, Spanish and French. During World War II she was evacuated to Moscow, Astrakhan and Ivanovo. She wrote plays, lyric miniatures and verses.

She was awarded State Prize of Latvian SSR (1958), USSR State Prize (1967) and the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.[4] In 1971 she received Visva-Bharati University honorary doctor diploma for her works on Urdu language.[5] She was buried in Līvu cemetery in Liepāja.

On 9 February 1989 a monument to Mirdza Ķempe was opened in Liepāja (architect Ligita Ulmane), another in Riga. A street in Ezerkrasts district of Liepāja is named after her.

Poetry

Mirdza Ķempe published 15 collections of poetry, including "Rīta vejš" (1946), "Gaisma akmenī", "Ērkšķuroze" (Dog-rose, 1972), "Mīlestības krāšņais", "Dzintara spogulis" (1968), "Mirkļu mužiba" etc.

Bibliography

References

  1. ↑ "Mirdza Ķempe photos". Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  2. ↑ Undīne Adamaite (28 September 2011). "Melodrāma par "nepareizu" dzīvi. Izrāde Īsie zibsnīgie mirkļi" (in Latvian). Diena. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  3. ↑ Sandra Vensko (2010), "Karalienes saimes galds", Liepājas Vēstules Nr. 3 (in Latvian), Kurzemes Vārds, pp. 30–33
  4. ↑ "Article Kempe, Mirdza Yanovna". Great Soviet Encyclopedia (in Russian). Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  5. ↑ "Visva Bharati University site". Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
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