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- Title
DAS DOKUMENTARERBE DES LETTISCHEN EXILS IN DEN WISSENSCHAFTLICHEN BIBLIOTHEKEN LETTLANDS: das Beispiel der Personalarchive von H. Biezais, M. Goppers, U. Ģērmanis und H. Rudzītis.
- Authors
Zanders, Viesturs
- Abstract
During the last decades, the archives of the largest Latvian libraries and museums have been significantly restocked with the documents owned by members of Latvian diaspora - the workers of science, culture and education and politicians - as well as by grassroot organizations. Both small collections and numerous personal archives, obtained from various countries with the largest communities of Latvian diaspora (USA, Australia, Germany, Sweden and other countries) provide us with great opportunities to research the 20th century Latvian diaspora and understand how during the period of 50 years it was possible for its members to retain national identity and pursue the idea of an independent Latvian state without actually living in the country. Naturally, every memory institution has defined its own criteria of storing documents and a historically developed attitude, which is important in making contacts and further strengthening them. Furthermore, there are different traditions of handling and making an inventory of documents. Due to the above mentioned reasons it is not possible to quantitatively compare the scope of new acquisitions made by various institutions. That notwithstanding, one could state that currently the greatest part of Latvian diaspora's documentary heritage is being stored at the Latvian National Library, the Academic Library of the University of Latvia, Literature and Music Museum and Latvian State Archives. The article provides examples from the personal archives collected by the cultural workers of Latvian diaspora and currently stored in the Latvian National Library Library (H. Biezais' and M. Goppers' archives) and the Academic Library of the University of Latvia (U. Ģērmanis' and H. Rudzītis' archives). Among the most significant archives is the material archived by Haralds Biezais, a researcher of religious history and folklore (1909-1995). The archive reflects a wide range of scientific interests pursued by H. Biezais and is a representative testimony of the destiny of émigrées faced with intellectual emigration. On the one hand, the archive represents an internationally recognized researcher; on the other hand, it provides information not only about H. Biezais' activities in emigration but covers a much wider situation, shedding light on the situation of Latvian books, authors, editors as well as publishing trends identified in Latvian diaspora's activities. Miķelis Goppers' archive (1908-1996) consists of manuscripts, book paste-ups, proofreading samples and illustrative material as well as most extensive M. Goppers' correspondence with book authors, designers, printing-house workers and distributors. The archival documents provide abundant testimony about the origins of conceiving the books in question, the fate of publications prepared by the publishing-house "Zelta ābele" as well as about unrealized publishing ideas. The archive collected by the historian Uldis Ģērmanis (1915-1997) sheds light on his historical research, essays and prose works as well as publishing trends, the situation of émigrée communities both during the Soviet times and after restoration of independence. The archive is stored in the Latvian University Academic Library. Relevant material for researching the book history of Latvian diaspora can also be found in the other document collections stored in the above mentioned library, in particular those related to the personality of Helmars Rudzītis (1903-2001), The information collected in his archive covers the entire period of 90 years, containing his personal letters, copyright contracts, the photos reflecting the activities of the publishing house "Grāmatu draugs" (established in 1926) as well as the archival documents of the newspaper "Laiks", published by H. Rudzītis from 1949.
- Publication
Knygotyra, 2017, Vol 68, p132
- ISSN
0204-2061
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.15388/Knygotyra.2017.68.10718