Rūdolfs Kārlis Leonīds Blaumanis (1862–1908) was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is considered one of the greatest writers in Latvian history, particularly a master of the literary realism. Rūdolfs Blaumanis was born in Ērgļi, Latvia to a family of servants in the local manor, father Matīss Blaumanis – a cook, and his mother Karlīne – a housemaid. Until 1875, he studied in a private school in Ogre parish and went on to study in a German merchant school until 1881. Blaumanis' first story Wiedergefunden/Found Again was published in 1882 in a German newspaper Zeitung für Stadt und Land. In 1886, his first poem in Latvian Nakts/Night was published. From 1887 until 1889, he lived in his childhood home and wrote several novels both in Latvian and German. In 1889, he moved to Riga and wrote for a newspaper about Latvian cultural affairs. In 1890, his first play Zagļi/Thieves was staged in Riga. For a brief period, he worked in the New Current movement's main newspaper Dienas Lapa where he published satire criticising romanticism. In 1901, he moved to St. Petersburg, where he led a satirical section of the famous Latvian newspaper Pēterburgas avīzes. In 1904, due to the financial and health problems, he returned to Latvia. In this period, he wrote some of his most famous plays. Among Blaumanis' most notable works are his play comedy Skroderdienas Silmačos/The Tailor Days at Silmači (1902), and his dramas Indrāni (1904) and Ugunī/In Fire (published 1905, staged 1906). Blaumanis drama is characterized by sharp conflict caused by contradicting characters and inner struggles. Although Blaumanis was not directly involved in the Revolution of 1905, he supported writers who were. In 1908 his health started to decline, and although with the help of fellow Latvian writers he was able to go to Finland for treatment, his state was already critical and he died on 4 September 1908 in the Punkaharju sanatorium for tubercular patients. He was buried in Ērgļi, and a House-Museum for Rūdolfs Blaumanis was opened in Braki, his childhood home, in 1959. Blaumanis' stories have been adapted for many films and animations.
Tales, short stories and novellas
Velniņi [The Little Devils] (1928)
Koka krusts [Wooden Cross] (1907)
Kā Jānis mācījies par kalēju [How Janis Learned to be a Carpenter] (1907)
Mēmais precinieks [The Mute Bridegroom] (1907)
Vecais cenzors [The Old Censor] (1907)
Stulbenis [The Fool] (1904)
Dziru Miķelis [Miķeis from Dziras] (1901)
Mopsis jeb Nelaime Tērbatas ielā [The Pooch, or the Misfortune on Tērbata Street] (1900)
Nāves ēnā [In the Shadow of Death] (1899)
Andriksons (1899)
Salna pavasarī [Frost in Spring] (1898)
Purva bridējs [Through the Marshland] (1898)
Laimes klēpī [On the Lap of Fortune] (1898)
Stāsts par cūku, kura runājuse [A Tale about the Talking Pig] (1895)
Īstā līgaviņa [The Betrothed Bride] (1890)
Raudupiete (1889)
Kā vecais Zemītis pašu nelabo redzējis [How Zemītis saw the Devil Himself] (1889)
Spijēnos [In Spijēni] (1888)
Aizvien lillā [Still Purple] (1888)
Paradīzē [In Paradise] (1887)
Pērkoņa negaiss [Thunderstorm] (1887)
Nezāle [The Weeds] (1887)
Plays
Sestdienas vakars [Saturday Evening] (1908)
Ugunī [In Fire] (1905)
Indrāni [The Indrāni Home] (1904)
Skroderdienas Silmačos [The Tailor Days in Silmači] (1902)
No saldenās pudeles [From the Sweet Bottle] (1901)
Potivāra nams [Potivaire's House] (1897)
Trīnes grēki [Trine's Sins] (1897)
Zelta kupris [The Golden Toad] (1895)
Maija [Maija] (1893)
Pazudušais dēls [The Lost Son] (1893)
Ļaunais gars [The Evil Spirit] (1892)
Zagļi [Thieves] (1891)
Poetry
Tālavas taurētājs [Tālava] (1902)
Veca dziesma [The Old Song] (1902)
Ceļa malā [At the Side of the Road] (1900)
Satirical prose
Īsa pamācība mīlēšanā [A Short Lesson in Love] (1907)
Jocīgi kapu uzraksti [Silly Gravestones] (1907)
Labāko famīliju dzejnieks [The Poet of Best Families] (1894)
Books to fall for

Miracle Herb
Miracle Herb (Brīnuma zālīte)
Whereas Blaumanis’s novellas are dramatic and focus on a number of ethical questions, his stories are relatively light-hearted. At times they recall a free-spirited, well-written traditional folklore, rich with humour and captivating plots, focusing on popular country folk character types. These stories are sometimes dominated by the grotesque, for example, in this story the wealthy farmer Jānis goes off in search of a bride and pretends to be deaf to learn about his future wife.
Contact: info@latvianliterature.lv

Title
:Miracle Herb
Title*
:Brīnuma zālīte
Authors
:Genre
:Fiction
Publisher
:VAPP Daiļliteratūras apgādniecība
Pages
:Year
:1941
Foreign rights
:Free rights

In the Shadow of Death
In the Shadow of Death (Nāves ēnā)
This short story masterpiece tells of several fishermen lost at sea after the ice floe on which they work calves off and drifts away rapidly. One by one, the thirteen men and a boy must deal with the creeping reality that they may not see the mainland.
Contact: info@latvianliterature.lv

Title
:In the Shadow of Death
Title*
:Nāves ēnā
Authors
:Genre
:Short-stories
Publisher
:Rūdolfa Blaumaņa apgādība
Pages
:19
Year
:1890
Foreign rights
:Free rights
José de María Romero Barea, about Latvian literature // Romero Barea escritor blog, 2020 [ES; EN]
Janis Rozentāls and Rūdolfs Blaumanis Museum // Association of Memorial Museums of Latvia [EN; LV]
Rūdolfs Blaumanis, about the author // Braki Museum website [EN; LV]
Rūdolfs Blaumanis // Online Library of Latvian Literature, Letonika.lv [LV]
About Purva Bridējs, the film // Latvijas Filmas [LV; RU]
Evlyne Leraut. In the Shadow of the Death, review // Evlyneleraut.canalblog, November 2024 [FR]
In the Shadow of the Death, review // Librairie-lba, October 2024 [FR]
In the Shadow of the Death, review // Etsionbouquinait, September 2024 [FR]
Isabelle Ruf. In the Shadow of the Death, review // Letemps, August 2024 [FR]
In the Shadow of the Death, review // Viduite.wordpress. June 2024 [FR]
In the Shadow of the Death, review // Passagealest.wordpress, May 2024 [FR]
LH Johnon, review of In the Shadow of Death // Didyoueverstopthinking.com, 2020 [EN]
Sabine Walther, review of In the Shadow of Death // Sabine Walther blog, 2020 [DE]
Anna Auziņa, Playing In the Shadow of Death, review of the Dirty Teatro staging of Blaumanis' In the Shadow of Death // Online magazine Satori, 2014 [LV]
Marciana Krauze about Blaumanis' works // LA.lv, 2013 [LV]
2013, Anna Kuzina, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for best research publication, for Blaumanis tuvplāna/Blaumanis in Close-up (pub. in 2013 by Madris)
2008, Līvija Volkova, the Annual Latvian Literature Award for best research publication, for Blaumaņa zelts/Blaumanis' Gold (pub. in 2008 by Karogs)

Sogno
Sogno (Sapnis)

Title
: SognoTitle*
: SapnisAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:Italian
Publisher
:Damocle Edizioni, Italia
Pages
:28
Year
:2013
Copyrights
:Akka/Laa, info@akka-laa.lv
Synopsis
:Translation in Italian of Rūdolfs Blaumanis story "Sapnis" (Dream).

In the Shadow of Death
In the Shadow of Death (Nāves ēnā)

Title
: In the Shadow of DeathTitle*
: Nāves ēnāAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:English
Publisher
:Paper + Ink, United Kingdom
Pages
:64
Year
:2018
Copyrights
:The translator;
Synopsis
:This short story masterpiece tells of several fishermen lost at sea after the ice floe on which they work calves off and drifts away rapidly. One by one, the thirteen men and a boy must deal with the creeping reality that they may not see the mainland.

Im Schatten des Todes
Im Schatten des Todes (Nāves ēnā)

Title
: Im Schatten des TodesTitle*
: Nāves ēnāAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:German
Publisher
:Hochroth, Germany
Pages
:40
Year
:2014
Synopsis
:This short story masterpiece tells of several fishermen lost at sea after the ice floe on which they work calves off and drifts away rapidly. One by one, the thirteen men and a boy must deal with the creeping reality that they may not see the mainland.

Frost im Frühling
Frost im Frühling (Salna pavasarī)

Title
: Frost im FrühlingTitle*
: Salna pavasarīAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:German
Publisher
:Aisthesis Verlag, Germany
Pages
:325
Year
:2017
Synopsis
:17 texts by the author

À l’ombre de la mort
À l’ombre de la mort (Nāves ēnā)

Title
: À l’ombre de la mortTitle*
: Nāves ēnāAuthors
:Translated by
:Genre
:Fiction
Language
:French
Publisher
:Éditions DO
Pages
:104
Year
:2024
Copyrights
:The author
Synopsis
:This short story masterpiece tells of several fishermen lost at sea after the ice floe on which they work calves off and drifts away rapidly. One by one, the thirteen men and a boy must deal with the creeping reality that they may not see the mainland.

Иностранная литература 3 (2019)
Иностранная литература 3 (2019) (Ārzemju literatūra)

Title
: Иностранная литература 3 (2019)Title*
: Ārzemju literatūraAuthors
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,Translated by
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,Genre
:Anthology
Language
:Russian
Publisher
:Иностранная литература, Russia
Pages
:287
Year
:2019
Synopsis
:Literary magazine on foreign literature

Tirpsta diena kaip ledai
Tirpsta diena kaip ledai (Dzejoļi bērniem, antoloģija)

Title
: Tirpsta diena kaip ledaiTitle*
: Dzejoļi bērniem, antoloģijaAuthors
: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,Translated by
: , , , , , ,Genre
:Anthology
Language
:Lithuanian
Publisher
:Slinktys
Pages
:160
Year
:2023