Jānis Pliekšāns (11 September 1865 – 11 September 1929), known by his pseudonym Rainis, was a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician. Rainis' works include the classic plays Uguns un nakts (Fire and Night, 1905) and Indulis un Ārija (Indulis and Ārija, 1911), and a highly regarded translation of Goethe's Faust. His works had a profound influence on the literary Latvian language, and the ethnic symbolism he employed in his major works has been central to Latvian nationalism.
Early life
thumb|left|upright|Rainis aged 15.
Rainis was born on "Varslavāni" farm, Dunava parish in Jēkabpils Municipality. His father, Krišjānis Pliekšāns (ca. 1828–1891), was a tenant farmer. His mother was Dārta, née Grikovska (ca. 1828–1899), and he had two sisters, Līze (1854–1897) and Dora (1870–1950). During his education at the Riga City Gymnasium he met and befriended Pēteris Stučka, Dora Pliekšāne's future husband, who later become a prominent Latvian communist.
Early career
Rainis studied law at the University of St. Petersburg, where he shared a room with Pēteris Stučka. While still a student, Rainis was already collecting folk songs, writing satirical and lyric poetry, and translating literature. Together with Stučka he edited a collection of epigrams and satire, Mazie dunduri (The Small Gadflies) and published Apdziedāšanas dziesmas (Mocking Songs) about the third All-Latvian Song Festival. The two men, however, would later split because of the differences between socialist and communist ideologies.
After completing his studies, he worked at the Vilnius regional courtrooms and with Andrejs Stērsts in Jelgava. Rainis wrote for Dienas Lapa (The Daily Page), Tēvija (Fatherland) and the Latvian Conversational Dictionary.
From 1891 to 1895 Rainis was editor in chief of Dienas Lapa (Daily Page). The Dienas Lapa scene was mostly a group of young Latvian liberal and socialist intellectuals who came to be known as the New Current. After attending the congress of the Second International in 1893, Rainis began to emphasize socialist ideology and news of socialist events in "Dienas Lapa." He is recognized as the father of Latvian socialism. It was during this period that he met Aspazija (pseudonym of Elza Pliekšāne, born Rozenberga), another Latvian poet and playwright active in the New Current. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, it was while editing the paper that Rainis developed "his own philosophy [which] showed no trace of Marxist materialism—he regarded life as an incessant series of mutations of energy."
Because of their social criticism and calls for various reforms, the New Current was viewed as a seditious movement and was the subject of a Tsarist crackdown. In 1897 Rainis was arrested and deported first to Pskov, and later to Vyatka guberniya (now Kirov Oblast). It was during this period of internal exile that Rainis translated Faust and other works from classical literature. Here he also produced his first collection of poems, Tālas noskaņas zilā vakarā (Far-Off Moods on a Blue Evening, 1903).
During his exile, Rainis published several more works, such as Gals un sākums (or "End and Beginning" in English, published 1912). These works used political and revolutionary symbolism and also borrowed ideas from Hegelian philosophy. He also penned plays which linked Latvian folklore to the country's modern, political struggles.
Return to Latvia
thumb|Rainis in the 1920s
Rainis and Aspazija returned to Latvia on 4 April 1920 and received a hero's welcome. They had served as the spiritual leaders in the fight for Latvian independence. Rainis, as a member of the Central Committee of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party, resumed his political activities and was a member of the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (Satversmes sapulce) and Saeima (Parliament) and of the Ministry of Education Arts Department, founder and director of the Dailes Theater, and director of the Latvian National Theatre from 1921 to 1925, Minister of Education from December 1926 to January 1928, and a member of the Cultural Fund and (Military) Order of Lāčplēsis Council. During this period he wrote:
- plays — Iļja Muromietis (Ilya Muromets), Mīla stiprāka par nāvi (A Love Stronger Than Death), Rīgas ragana (The Witch of Riga);
- poetry — Treji loki, Sudrabota gaisma (A Silvery Light), Mēness meitiņa (Moon Girl), Zelta sietiņš (The Gold Strainer), and others;
- memoirs — Kastaņjola (Castagnola).
He died in Majori in 1929.
Legacy and commemoration
thumb|Rainis' gravesite memorial, Rainis Cemetery
thumb|Soviet 1 Ruble coin commemorating Rainis
A number of Rainis' poetry collections were published posthumously: Sirds devējs, Dvēseles Dziesma, Lielās līnijas, and Aizas ziedi.