Eduards Veidenbaums
03.10.1867 – 24.05.1892
Eduards Veidenbaums (1867–1892) was a Latvian poet and translator. He was born at the Glāznieki farmstead in the Priekuļi parish (now territory of Cēsis). In 1872 his family moved to Kālāči in the Mūrmuiža parish. In 1887 after finishing Riga governorate gymnasium, Veidenbaums started to study law at the University of Tartu. Most of his poetry was published posthumously. The power of the poet's talent, unknown to a wider range of readers during his lifetime, has not subsided over the years. His poetry, created at the end of the 19th century, has remained surprisingly topical: people know Veidenbaums' poems by heart and quote him, composers use his lyrics for music also in the 21st century. "Awaken thee, free spirit", "The clouds pass by like white swans", "My thoughts are deep", and other lines of his verse are known not only by literary historians, they are still used in everyday communication.