- Atis Kronvalds
Atis Kronvalds or Kronvaldu Atis (
15 April ,1837 -17 February ,1875 ) was Latvian author, linguist andteacher .Early life
Kronvalds was born to a
tailor , but was raised by priests ofDurbe . After studies inLiepāja he became a private teacher. In 1860 he started to study medicine at theUniversity of Berlin ; however, he left after half a year when he ran out of money. He returned toLatvia , where he resumed work as a private teacher in Durbe.Participiation in "Young Latvians" movement
After returning to Latvia, Kronvalds joined the Latvian nationalist movement "
Young Latvians " and became a pasionate advocate of Latvian rights, language, and culture. In 1865 he moved toTartu to study pedagogy at theUniversity of Tartu . In 1868 he became a teacher at the teacher seminary there. He participied in the social activities of local Latvian society; notably, he renewed the "Latvian evenings" tradition begun byKrišjānis Valdemārs . He also wrote works ofeducational theory and several articles on education and linguistics. In 1872 he wrote "Nationale Bestrebungen", the manifesto of the Young Latvians. In 1873 Kronvalds moved toVecpiebalga , where he worked as a teacher in a local school; he also participated by delivering two speeches, in the firstLatvian Song and Dance Festival in the same year. He is one of the most famous latvian authors of all time.
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