Vija Artmane has been called the legend of Latvian theatre and cinema.
She was born Alida Fritsevna Artmane, on July 21, 1929, in a village
near Tukums, Latvia. Her father, Fritsis Artmane, was of Batic German
ancestry, and he died four months before she was born. Her Polish
mother, Anna Zaborska, survived by doing seasonal agricultural jobs.
Young Artmane grew up playing in the fields, she was fond of wild
flowers and learned to make flower arrangements and dolls. At the age
of 10, young Artmane became a shepherd girl. She worked with a herd of
cows for five years, and survived until the end of the Second World
War. In 1946 she graduated from school and had a dream of becoming a
lawyer in order to make the world a better place, but her passion for
acting prevailed.
In 1946 she moved to Riga, and changed her first name to Vija,
beginning her studies at the Daile Theatre Second Studio. From 1946 -
1949 Vija Artmane studied acting under the tutelage of the legendary
Latvian theatre director Eduard Smilgis. From 1949 to 1999 Artmane was
a permanent member of the troupe at the Daile Theatre in Riga. Her most
memorable stage works were Juliet in 'Romeo and Juliet' (1953), and
Ofelia in 'Hamlet' among other Shakespeare's plays. Vija Artmane had
also created important roles in Latvian plays such as 'Indulis and
Arija' and 'Fire and Night' under direction of by Janis Rajnis. She was
critically acclaimed for her passionate performance as Anna Karenina in
the eponymous play by Lev Tolstoy directed
by Eduard Smilgis; she also played in Tolstoy's 'War and Peace', in
Gogol's 'Dead Souls', and other classic Russian plays. From 1998 to
2000 she worked with the New Riga Theatre. There she appeared in the
title role in stage production of 'Queen of Spades' based on the
eponymous drama by Aleksandr Pushkin.
In 1956 Artmane made her film debut in 'Posle shtorma' (1957) (aka..
After the Storm). In 1963 she shot to fame in the Soviet Union with her
leading role as Sonya, a beautiful and loving mother, in
Blutsverwandtschaft (1964). After that film
Artmane was nicknamed "Mother-Latvia" in her homeland. Her film career
was highlighted with such roles as Veda Kong in
Tumannost Andromedy (1967),
as Catherine the Great in
Emelyan Pugachev (1979), as
Julia Lamber in Teatris (1978) and other
film works. Artmane appeared as herself in documentary on her biography
titled 'Conversation with the Queen' (1980) which was produced at the
Riga Film Studio.
Vija Artmane received the title of National Actress of Latvia, and was
designated People's Artist of the USSR in 1969. In 1999 Vija Artmane
was awarded by the Culture Ministry of Latvia for her contribution to
the art of theatre and cinema. In 2003 she received a special Theatre
Prize for her long-standing contribution to Latvian culture. Vija
Artmane was married to actor
Arturs Dimiters and the couple had two
children, a son and a daughter. In 2004 she published a book of memoirs
titled 'The moments of my life'. She died on October 8, 2008 of natural
causes and was laid to rest in Pokrovsky cemetery in Riga, Latvia.
