Ādolfs Alunāns

Adolfs Alunāns was born in Jelgava, a town in Russian Empire (in present-day Latvia). His parents were Peter Alunāns, a well-known Latvian journalist, and Otilia Alunāne, daughter of the mayor of Jelgava. In youth Alunāns went to the Academia Petrina gymnasium and in his free time was strictly schooled by his uncle Juris Alunāns (a famous Latvian poet). After finishing the gymnasium, he was very well educated. He often went to the city theater with his grandfather Julius Felcke, who was a big theater admirer. These theater attendances gave Alunāns a big interest in theater art, that he will be driven by his whole life.[3]

From 1866, he started working as an actor in German theater in Reval (now Tallinn) until 1870, when he was invited to lead the Latvian theater in Riga.[4] While working in the Latvian theater he translated German plays to Latvian language and wrote his own, searched for new actors and organized their learning. In 1885, Alunāns stepped down and returned to live in his hometown Jelgava, where he continued to work as an actor, writer and journalist.[5] In 1896, he created his own theater, which successfully worked till 1904, when his health got worse.[6]