Quick Facts
Biography
Mārtiņš Zīverts (27 July 1903 in Mežmuiža, Vilce parish – 4 October 1990) was a Latvian playwright.
Biography
Zīverts was born in Mežmuiža, Courland Governorate (now Vilce parish, Jelgava municipality, Latvia). He studied philosophy at the University of Latvia in Riga, later working as an editor and dramaturgist at the National Theater in Riga.
He came to Sweden as a refugee in 1944. While he often worked as a laborer, he continued to write and direct plays, and served as chairman of the Latvian PEN center. He wrote almost 40 plays in several genres.
Work
- Hasana harēms, 1927
- Kropļi, 1933
- Zelta zeme, 1933
- Galvu augšā!, 1937
- Tīreļpurvs, 1937
- Ķīnas vāze, 1940
- Vara, 1944
- Kāds, kura nav, 1947
- Čūska, 1960.
- Meli meklē meli, 1962
- Nauda, 1967
- Totēms, 1972
- Par sevi: autobiogrāfija, intervijas, vēstules, 1992
Adaptations
In 1992 a Lithuanian director Juozas Sabolius has made a two-part costume drama based on Zīverts' play "Vara" (Power) about the life of Lithuania's king Mindaugas which was aired by Lithuania's national broadcaster.