Vija Artmane

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Vija Artmane (August 21, 1929 in Kaive, Seme parish, – October 11, 2008 in Strenci) was a Latvian theatre and cinema actress.

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Life and career

Vija Artmane was born Alda Artmane at a time when Latvia was still a sovereign state. Fricis Arnolds Artmanis, a partial Baltic German immigrant, died in a tragic manner only four months before she was born. Anna Regna Zaborska, a Polish immigrant, survived as a single mother by doing seasonal agricultural jobs. Artmane grew up playing in the fields; she loved wildflowers and learned to make flower arrangements and dolls in Latvia's traditional style. Though her mother worked for a landlord, her master arranged a young Artmane to study music and dance at a ballet class for a few years. However, at the age of 10, young Artmane became a shepherd girl. She was an assistant with a herd of cows for more than five years and survived until the Second World War. She graduated from secondary school in 1946 and had aspired to become a lawyer in order to make the world a better place. At the same time, she was involved in amateur acting at her school and became interested in film and theatre, and eventually, her love for acting grew.

Artmane began her studies at the Daile Theatre Second Studio in Riga, then staying as a member of the troupe for the next 50 years. Vija, on a hint from her instructor and for artistic reasons, she changed her first name at the start of her acting career. Artmane studied under the tutelage of Latvian theatre director Eduards Smilov, the troupe's original founder, from 1946 to 1949. Artmane was the leading actor of the troupe at the Daile Theatre in Riga from 1949 to 1998. Under Smiis' directorship, she appeared in her best stage roles. Juliet in Romeo and Juliet (1953), and Ophelia in Hamlet were two of Shakespeare's most famous stage performances. Artmane played important parts in Latvian plays including Indulis and Fire and Night, which were produced under the National Actor of Latvia Rainis. Anna Karenina, Tolstoy's heroine, was critically acclaimed for her stage performances in Russian plays, as well as her appearance in Tolstoy's War and Peace, in Gogol's Dead Souls, and other classic Russian plays. Artmane's career progressed to modern plays after Smiis' death in 1966, but she continued to perform some of her classic stage roles in the 1970s and 1980s.

She appeared with the New Riga Theatre from 1998 to 2000. She appeared in the title role in a stage version of The Queen of Spades based on Alexander Pushkin's eponymous short story.

When Artmane made her debut in Posle shtorma (After the Storm), she was already a well-known star of Latvia's stage. Sonya, a young and loving mother, starred opposite Evgeni Matveev in 1964's classic film Blood Ties (1964). In her homeland, Artmane was called "Mother-Latvia" after the film "Mother-Latvia." During the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, she had a fruitful film career in the Soviet Union. Julia Lamber in the film Tetris (1978) and other notable film performances highlighted her film career. She appeared in such films as Veda Kong in Tumannost' Andromedy (1967), as Empress Catherine the Great in the classic science fiction film Tumannost' Andromedy (1978), as Empress Catherine the Great in the popular science fiction film Tumannost' Andromedy (1978), as Empress Catherine the Great in the historical drama "Youmelyan Pugachyan Pugachy (1978) and other important film performances (1978) and other important film roles as Julia Lamber's (1978) Vija Artmane appeared as herself in a documentary called Conversation with the Queen (1980), which was produced at the Riga Film Studio.

Vija Artmane is one of Latvia's most popular figures. Artmane participated actively in the revival and enhancement of Latvian national heritage; she has been an active promoter of the use of the Latvian language in literature and art, as well as in everyday life. In 1965, she was dubbed "People's Artist of the Latvian SSR" and was named a People's Artist of the United StatesSR in 1969. She appeared on the jury at the 6th Moscow International Film Festival the previous year.

The Latvian Ministry of Culture awarded Artmane an award for her contribution to the development of theatre and cinema in 1999. In 2003, she was awarded the special Theatre Prize for her long-serving contribution to Latvian culture. Vija Artmane was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2007 for outstanding civil service in Latvia's service.

On 1968, the asteroid 4136 Artmane was discovered in her honour.

Vija Artmane was married to Latvian actor Art Dimiter, and the couple had two children together: artist Kaspars Dimitere (1957) and artist Kristina Dimitere (1965). She suffered from an emotional breakdown and had a stroke in 1986, after her husband's death. Artmane moved out of Riga due to a money shortage and settled in the countryside in the 1990s. She converted to Eastern Orthodoxy in the early 2000s. In 2004, she published a book of memoirs about her acting career as well as her personal life.

She was buried at Pokrov Cemetery in Riga on October 11, 2008, following her death at the age of 79.

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Awards and honours

• Honoured Artist of the Latvian SSR (1956)
• People's Artist of the Latvian SSR (1965)
• People's Artist of the USSR (1969)
• Order of Lenin (1979)
• Order of Friendship (Russia, 2004)
• Order of the Three Stars (22 October 2007)
• Winner of the All-Union Film Festival (1964, 1968).
• Laureate of State Prize of the Latvian SSR (1980)
• Prize named Lilita Berzina (1987)
• Prize named Bertha Rumnietse (1996)
• Prize II All-Russian Festival "New Russian Cinema" (2001)
• Top award for lifelong contribution to Latvian arts (2003)