Vilis Lācis’s Followers (7)

Vilis Lācis

Born

in Mangaļi, near Riga, Latvia

May 12, 1904

Died

February 06, 1966

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Vilis Lācis was a Latvian writer and Communist politician.

Lācis was born into a working-class family in Mangaļi, near Riga. He was a manual labourer, mostly working in the port of Riga and writing in his free time. In 1933, he published his hugely successful novel Zvejnieka dēls (Fisherman's Son), making him one of the most popular and commercially successful Latvian writers of the 1930s. His novels have been characterized as popular fiction, not always liked by high-brow critics, but widely read by ordinary readers.

Throughout this period, Lācis maintained underground ties to the officially banned Communist Party of Latvia. Lācis was under periodic surveillance by the Latvian secret services due to his political activities. Eventually Lācis Vilis Lācis was a Latvian writer and Communist politician.

Lācis was born into a working-class family in Mangaļi, near Riga. He was a manual labourer, mostly working in the port of Riga and writing in his free time. In 1933, he published his hugely successful novel Zvejnieka dēls (Fisherman's Son), making him one of the most popular and commercially successful Latvian writers of the 1930s. His novels have been characterized as popular fiction, not always liked by high-brow critics, but widely read by ordinary readers.

Throughout this period, Lācis maintained underground ties to the officially banned Communist Party of Latvia. Lācis was under periodic surveillance by the Latvian secret services due to his political activities. Eventually Lācis became a favorite of Latvian dictator Karlis Ulmanis, who personally ordered the destruction of the surveillance files on Lācis. Lācis wrote newspaper editorials highly favorable of the Ulmanis regime, while still secretly remaining a Communist supporter, and Ulmanis's government generously funded Lācis's writing and a film adaptation of Fisherman's Son.

Lācis's Communist links became public after Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union, when he was appointed as Minister of the Interior in the puppet government of Augusts Kirhenšteins. After Latvia was illegally incorporated in the USSR in August 1940, Lācis became Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Latvian SSR (nominally, Prime Minister)and served in this position from 1940 to 1959. He was regarded mostly as a figurehead, as most of the actual decisions were made by the Central Committee of the Communist Party. As first Minister of the Interior and then Chairman of the Supreme Soviet, he must take personal responsibility for the Stalinist deportations and other aspects of the police state, and signed orders for the arrest and deportation of over 40,000 people.

Lācis's books have been translated into more than 50 languages, with translations into Russian being the most numerous. He remains the most translated Latvian writer. ...more

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Vilis Lācis’s books

Average rating: 3.84 · 775 ratings · 56 reviews · 32 distinct works • Similar authors

	Zvejnieka dēls 3.88 avg rating — 459 ratings — published 1933 — 22 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cilvēki maskās 4.08 avg rating — 59 ratings — published 1984 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Putni bez spārniem 3.94 avg rating — 47 ratings — published 1932 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Zītaru dzimta 4.22 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1955 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Akmeņainais ceļš 3.75 avg rating — 28 ratings — published 1964	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Uz jauno krastu 2.56 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 1958 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pazudusī dzimtene 3.76 avg rating — 21 ratings — published 1941 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Senču aicinājums 3.94 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 1965	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Pūļa elks 3.64 avg rating — 14 ratings — published 1935	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Vēlais pavasaris 4.20 avg rating — 10 ratings — published 2014	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Quotes by Vilis Lācis (?)

“Tālais vienmēr liekas skaists, neaizsniedzamajam šķiet teiksmaina vērtība. Skaists malds, bet bez viņa dzīvot būtu neiespējami.”
― Vilis Lācis, Cilvēki maskās

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“Spogulis ir tikpat nepielūdzams kā pati dzīve. Tas nekad nemelo un saka patiesību acīs, vaļsirdīgi līdz cinismam un nav nozīmes ar to strīdēties: viņam vienmēr ir taisnība.”
― Vilis Lācis, Ciems pie jūras

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“Cilvēks plosās tikai tikmēr, kamēr vēl atliek kaut mazākā cerība.”
― Vilis Lācis, Zvejnieka dēls

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Vilis Lācis’s Followers (7)

Vilis Lācis

Combine EditionsVilis Lācis’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Vilis Lācis’s books