What do you think?
Rate this book
Edžiņš
28 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1967
2 people want to read
About the author
Vilis Lācis
32 books7 followersVilis 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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 23, 2022
..mans pats pirmais Vilis Lācis. īss gan, toties pirmais. un gan jau pēdējais, jo okupantu dirslaižus jau lasīt nav labi.
March 12, 2025
"Viņi gāja atpakaļ uz dienvidiem, pretim mīļajai Daugavai - atriebt [tos], ko saminis ienaidnieka asiņainais papēdis. Cēls un tīrs bija viņu ienaids, kā skaidra liesma krūtīs dega atriebības alka."
- Lielisks veids kā nobeigt, propaganda at its best, jautājumu vairs nav.
- Lielisks veids kā nobeigt, propaganda at its best, jautājumu vairs nav.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews