Famous people on Latvia's street names

Rainis

66 Jānis Pliekšāns, known by his pseudonym Rainis, was a Latvian poet, playwright, translator, and politician. Rainis' works include the classic plays Uguns un nakts and Indulis un Ārija, 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.

Andrejs Pumpurs

38 Andrejs Pumpurs was a poet who penned the Latvian epic Lāčplēsis and a prominent figure in the Young Latvia movement. Working in the land before volunteering to fight in Serbia against the Ottoman Empire in 1876, he became a loyal officer in the Russian army and also a staunch promoter of the Latvian culture.

Rūdolfs Blaumanis

26 Kārlis Rūdolfs Leonīds Blaumanis was a Latvian writer, journalist and playwright. He is a renowned writer in Latvian history and a master of realism. The building of a flat in Riga that he once lived has been converted to a memorial museum named partially in his honor, the Janis Rozentāls and Rūdolfs Blaumanis museum.

Frīdrihs Briedis

24 Frīdrihs Briedis was a Latvian colonel and one of the most famous Latvian Riflemen commanders. He was posthumously the recipient of all classes of the Order of Lāčplēsis.

Krišjānis Barons

16 Krišjānis Barons was a Latvian writer who is known as the "father of the dainas", largely thanks to his systematization of the Latvian folk songs, and his labour in preparing their texts for publication in Latvju dainas. His portrait appeared on the 100-lat banknote prior to the Lat being replaced by the Euro in 2014, his being the only human face of an actual person on modern Latvian currency. Barons was very prominent among the Young Latvians, and was also an important writer and editor.

Krišjānis Valdemārs

16 Krišjānis Valdemārs was a writer, editor, educator, politician, lexicographer, folklorist and economist, the spiritual leader of The First Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvians movement.

Aspazija

11 Aspazija was the pen name of Elza Johanna Emilija Lizete Pliekšāne, a Latvian poet and playwright. Aspazija is the Latvian transliteration of Aspasia.

Oskars Kalpaks

9 Oskars Kalpaks was the commander of 1st Latvian Independent Battalion, also known as "Kalpaks Battalion".

Leons Paegle

8 Leons Paegle (1890—1926) bija latviešu skolotājs, literāts un nelegālais komunists. Bijis Rīgas pilsētas domnieks, darbojies Komunistiskajā internacionālē kā propagandists ar segvārdu «Šķesters», aktīvs nelegālās komunistiskās preses līdzstrādnieks.

Alexander Pushkin

8 Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era. He is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet, as well as the founder of modern Russian literature.

Emīls Dārziņš

7 Emīls Dārziņš was a Latvian composer, conductor and music critic. Dārziņš' work bears a distinct romantic character, with a strong trend towards national themes. His main musical authorities and influences were Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Jean Sibelius. Dārziņš musical contribution is mainly to vocal music, but he also composed orchestral music, though only one piece, "Melanholiskais valsis" has survived. His only opera, "Rožainās dienas", remained unfinished after his early death at the age of 34.

Brāļi Kaudzītes

6 Brāļi Kaudzītes bija latviešu rakstnieki un skolotāji. Pirmā latviešu romāna "Mērnieku laiki" autori (1879). Par nozīmīgu ieguldījumu Latvijas literatūrā brāļi Kaudzītes iekļauti Latvijas kultūras kanonā.

Eduards Veidenbaums

6 Eduards Veidenbaums was a Latvian poet and translator.                                             

Jānis Čakste

6 Jānis Kristaps Čakste was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the People's Council (1918–1920), the Speaker of the Constitutional Assembly (1920–1922), and as the first President of Latvia (1922–1927).

Gotthard Friedrich Stender

6 Gotthard Friedrich Stender, also called Old Stender, was a Baltic German Lutheran pastor who played an outstanding role in Latvia's history of culture. He was the first Latvian grammarian and lexicographer, founder of the Latvian secular literature in the 18th century. In the spirit of Enlightenment, he wrote the first Latvian-German and German-Latvian dictionaries, wrote the first encyclopedia “A Book of High Wisdom on the World and Nature” (1774), and wrote the first illustrated Latvian alphabet book (1787).

Andrejs Upīts

5 Andrejs Upīts was a Latvian teacher, poet and short story writer.                                   

Alfrēds Kalniņš

4 Alfrēds Bruno Jānis Kalniņš was a Latvian composer, organist, pedagogue, music critic and conductor; the founder of national Latvian opera. Kalniņš is primarily remembered for his national opera Baņuta (1920).

Ojārs Vācietis

4 Ojārs Vācietis was a Latvian writer and poet. He is often considered one of the most famous and influential poets in the Latvian SSR.

Juris Māters

4 Juris Māters was a Latvian writer and journalist.                                                   

Linards Laicens

3 Linards Laicens, arī Laicēns (1883—1938) bija latviešu rakstnieks un sabiedriskais darbinieks. 3. Saeimas un 4. Saeimas deputāts no Strādnieku un zemnieku partijas. Rīgas pilsētas domnieks.

Juris Alunāns

3 Juris Alunāns was a Latvian writer and philologist in the Russian Empire. He was one of the first contributors of the Latvian language. He was one of the members of the Young Latvia movement.

Fricis Brīvzemnieks

3 Fricis Brīvzemnieks bija latviešu folklorists, jaunlatvietis, publicists, dzejnieks, tulkotājs, kurš daudz darījis folkloras materiālu vākšanā un publicēšanā. Tērbatas mācību apgabala tautskolu inspektors Kurzemes guberņā, vēlāk Rīgā.

Emilis Melngailis

3 Emilis Jūlijs Melngailis was a Latvian composer, folklorist, and a master of choral songs. He was an organizer and chief conductor of Latvian Song and Dance Festival several times. He wrote 53 original songs for a cappella choir, and finished numerous national folk songs.

Anna Brigadere

3 Anna Brigadere was a writer, playwright and poet from Latvia.                                       

Sudrabu Edžus

3 Sudrabu Edžus bija latviešu pedagogs un rakstnieks.                                                 

Jānis Daliņš

3 Jānis Daliņš was a Latvian race walker. Competing in the 50 km event he won a silver medal at the 1932 Olympics, becoming the first athlete to win an Olympic medal competing for Latvia. He also won the 1934 European title and set seven world records in the 1930s. At the 1936 Olympics he led the race at 30 km, but abandoned the race due to a leg injury.

Anna Sakse

3 Anna Sakse was a Latvian writer and translator. She also wrote under the names Austra Sēja, Smīns, Trīne Grēciņa and Zane Mežadūja.

27 unique persons spotted on 294 streets