Kārlis Baumanis

Kārlis Baumanis (11 May 1835 – 10 January 1905), better known as Baumaņu Kārlis, was an ethnic Latvian composer in the Russian Empire. He is the author of the lyrics and music of Dievs, svētī Latviju! (“God bless Latvia!”), the national anthem of Latvia.

Kārlis Baumanis depicted on
2010 Latvian postage stamp

Kārlis Baumanis was the first composer to use the word “Latvia” in the lyrics of a song, in the 19th century, when Latvia was still a part of the Russian Empire.

Biography

Kārlis Baumanis was born on 11 May 1835, in Viļķene (Wilkenhof), in the family of peasants Jekab and Anna Baumanis. He created the Latvian national anthem "God bless Latvia" in 1870.[1] He lived and worked in Limbaži (Lemsal) as a teacher and a journalist. An important milestone in his life was the election of the Speaker of the Riga Latvian Society and the Member of the Singing Commission in 1870, where he participated gigantically in the preparation of the First General Latvian Singing Festival. This year he married Marija Carolini Elizabeth, the daughter of Ferdinand von Vite, tenant of Sāra manor, and was a German teacher at the prestigious Smolny Institute of Exotic Nursery.[2]

In 1871, he completed the composition studies with the Czech musician Voiceha Hlavach. On November 14, 1872, his daughter, Lilia Elizabeth, was born. In 1873 he was rewarded for his success in pedagogical work by the Holy Spirit. Anna's Order. Kārlis Baumanis died on 11 January 1905, in Limbaži at the age of 69.

References
  1. Laima, Rita (2017). Skylarks and Rebels: A Memoir about the Soviet Russian Occupation of Latvia, Life in a Totalitarian State, and Freedom. Columbia University Press. ISBN 9783838268545.
  2. "3. Lirika". Retrieved 16 March 2023.
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