Kārlis Skalbe
| Kārlis Skalbe | |
|---|---|
Kārlis Skalbe
|
|
| Born |
7 November 1879 Vecpiebalga parish,  Russian empire(Now  Latvia) |
| Died |
14 April 1945 ,  Sweden
|
| Occupation | writer |
| Nationality | Latvian |
Kārlis Skalbe (November 7 [O.S. October 26] 1879 — 1945 April 14) was a Latvian writer, poet, and activist. He is best known for his 72 fairy tales which are really written for adults. He has been called the 'King of Fairytales', and his words, Tēvzemei un Brīvībai (For Fatherland and Freedom), are inscribed on the Monument of Freedom in Riga.
Skalbe was born in Vecpiebalga parish, in the heart of Vidzeme, symbolically the same year that one of the other greats of Latvian literature, the poet Auseklis (Miķelis Krogzemis), died in exile. His father Jānis was a blacksmith; his mother, Ede, was, like his father, a Piebalga native. The Skalbes had ten children of which Kārlis was the youngest; five of his siblings died in early childhood.
Skalbe's parents were devout Christians. His father was an avid reader both of contemporary works and of the Bible—said to be able to quote it by heart, and also a great story-teller. Skalbe himself learned to read at 7, taught by his mother. Skalbe's mother took over as head of the household when his father died at 55, when Skalbe was only 8. Their means were meager—Skalbe's mother worked for neighbors as a menial laborer. She found strength in her faith; she was an active member of the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeine, participating in meetings and services, and reportedly an excellent singer. Her religiosity was a strong influence on the young Skalbe—later to capture this period of his childhood in his poem Gurstot (Wearied), part of his collection Cietumnieka sapņi (Prisoner's Dreams).
Skalbe first entered school in Veļķe parish, attending from 1887 to 1890, where his favorite subject was Bible studies. There he developed a close relationship with Ernests Felsbergs, later art history professor and rector of the University of Latvia, as a teacher. Skalbe's first encounter with poetry, however, was not at school but during his four summers as a shepherd, where in his bed under the hay mattress he found a long mislaid book of poems by Pēteris Ceriņš, a lyric poet active in the 1860s and 70's. Skalbe wrote his first poem at 12, and tried his hand at his first fairy tale not long after.
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