Journalist, activist Emīls Dēliņš dies at 82

Andris Straumanis | 

Emīls Dēliņš, founder of the newspaper Austrālijas Latvietis, a community activist and Latvia’s honorary consul general in Australia, died Feb. 21 in Melbourne. He was 82.

The funeral service is scheduled at 1 p.m. March 2 in Holy Cross Church in Melbourne. The Rev. Aldis Elberts will officiate.

Dēliņš was born May 15, 1921, in Rīga. A 1940 graduate of the French lycée in Rīga, Dēliņš studied agriculture at the Latvian Academy of Agriculture and chemistry at the University of Latvia, according to his son, Jānis.

Like thousands of other Latvians, he fled his homeland during World War II. From 1945-1947 he worked for the Latvian Displaced Persons’ camp newspapers Lībekas Vēstnesis and Latviešu Ziņas.

In 1949 he immigrated to Australia, where he founded Austrālijas Latvietis. He edited the newspaper until 2000.

Dēliņš wrote frequently for the Latvian and Australian press, according to Latvju enciklopēdija, 1962-1982, lectured about literature and translated plays into Latvian from the French and German languages.

He also was active in the Latvian community in Australia, serving the Latvian Federation in Australia and New Zealand as well as the World Federation of Free Latvians.

Dēliņš also worked on broader Baltics-related political issues. In 1974 under the government of Prime Minister E.G. Whitlam, Australia announced that it no longer recognized the Baltic States, according to the Web site of the Latvian Foreign Ministry. That decision was reversed in 1975 under Prime Minister M.J. Fraser, thanks in part to the efforts of Dēliņš, and Australia returned to its earlier stance that the Baltic states were illegally incorporated into the Soviet Union.

In 1979, Dēliņš was named Latvia’s honorary vice consul in Australia, in 1982 was promoted to honorary consul, and in 1992 was promoted to honorary general consul. Since 1993 he also had served as honorary consul to New Zealand.

Dēliņš received many honors for his work in the Latvian community, including being twice recognized by the World Federation of Free Latvians’ Culture Fund for his work in journalism. In 1997, Dēliņš was awarded the Order of Three Stars, Latvia’s highest civilian honor. The Latvian Academy of Sciences in 2000 conferred on Dēliņš an honorary doctorate in political studies.

In 1996 he was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for his service to the nation’s Latvian community.

Dēliņš was a godson of former Latvian President Kārlis Ulmanis.

Dēliņš is survived by a daughter, Maruta Tauriņa of Sydney, Australia; two sons, Jānis of Melbourne, Australia, and Daris of New York, and three grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife, Nīna, in 2002. His son Jānis is Latvia’s honorary vice consul in Melbourne.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

President asks Emsis to form government

Andris Straumanis | 

After giving political parties 24 hours to come to terms on who should run the country, Latvian President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga has called on Indulis Emsis to form a new government, according the media reports.

The invitation comes despite attempts by current Prime Minister Einars Repše, who resigned Feb. 5, to convince the president that he should be allowed to form a new government or that parliament should be dismissed and new elections held.

After four conservative parties, which together control three-fourths of the 100-seat parliament, failed to rally around a candidate for prime minister, Vīķe-Freiberga on Feb. 19 gave them just 24 hours to come to terms. When the parties still couldn’t decide on a candidate, the president announced her choice in a Feb. 20 press conference.

Emsis, of the conservative Zaļo un Zemnieku savienība (Union of Greens and Farmers), is deputy chairman of his party’s board and a member of parliament. Born in 1952, he graduated in 1975 with a degree in biology from the University of Latvia and worked in the forestry business for many years. Among his areas of concern are environmental policy.

Latvian media reported generally favorable reaction to the selection of Emsis, with many politicians viewing him as a good compromise candidate who can form an effective conservative government. However, the Repše-led Jaunais laiks (New Era) party announced it won’t participate in the new government if any of the ministerial portfolios are offered to Latvijas Pirmā partija (Latvia’s First Party). The conservative Christian party and Jaunais laiks have been sparring for months, a situation that in part led to the fall of the government.

Once Emsis names his ministers, the government will have to be approved by parliament. Until that time, Repše’s government continues in power.

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Indulis Emsis

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Music industry prepares to name best of 2003

Andris Straumanis | 

For Latvia’s music industry, February will close out with a couple of big bangs. Eirodziesma 2004, the competition that will choose Latvia’s representative to this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Turkey, is scheduled Feb. 28 in Ventspils. But before that event, the year’s best recordings will be honored in a Feb. 21 ceremony in Rīga that may hold special meaning for some Latvians abroad.

The “Latvijas mūzikas ierakstu Gada Balva” honors are sponsored by the Latvian Music Producers Association (LaMPA). Like other awards, such as the Grammys in the United States or the Brit Awards in the United Kingdom, the Gada Balva honors recording artists across several categories.

All the major recording companies in Latvia—Baltic Records Group, Mikrofona ieraksti, Platforma Records and UPE Recording Co.—are represented this year, as are a few smaller labels. The largest company, Mikrofona ieraksti or MICREC, has the most nominations, 26 across the 18 awards categories. Platforma is second with 17 nominations, while Baltic Records and UPE each have 14 nominations.

The Gada Balva doesn’t name an overall “album of the year,” but selects the best songs or albums in various categories in three divisions: major nominations, regular nominations and special awards.

In the major nominations division, the best songs and albums will be named in the genres of rock, modern rock, pop, dance music, hip-hop, and schlager or country.

The hip-hop category may be of special interest to Latvians in the United States. The Chicago-born rapper Delete, who started his career in Detroit, is nominated twice in the best hip-hop song category. One nomination is for “I Gotta Hold On” which he performs with the singer Erica Jennings on his album You’re Not Alone (released by Platforma), and the other is for his collaboration on “Tu vēl esi dzīvs,” performed with Pamatinstinks, Ray, KRF and Flip M.

However, the categories that will receive most attention undoubtedly will be those that name the best rock and best pop songs and albums. And those could be toss-ups. Nominated for best rock album, for example, are Prāta Vētra for A Day Before Tomorrow, Dzelzs vilks for Ļauj man tevi…, Fomins & Kleins for Muzikants (which includes the title track that was the only song in Latvian in last year’s Eirodziesma contest), the pagan-metal band Skyforger for Pērkoņkalve, and alt-rockers Z-Scars for Starp tevi un mani. While it may be very likely that Prāta Vētra adds another award to its résumé, it would be fun—if not a bit shocking—to honor Skyforger.

In the best pop album category, I’m cheering for Ainars Mielavs and Dzīvais porcelāns. Like previous Mielavs albums, it takes some getting used to, but offers listeners a number of well-crafted songs that sound as fragile as the album’s title. Mielavs is up against four other nominations, including the self-titled album from the new group Cosmos (released by Mielavs’ company, UPE Recording).

In the regular nominations division, the awards include best contemporary folk music album, best academic music album, best instrumental, film or theatre music album; best children’s music album, and best music video.

I’m confident Kaza kāpa debesīs, the latest UPE release from the post-folk group Iļģi, will win the contemporary folk music album award. It’s just a great album by a consistenty great group. But the independently released Gonam gona by Laimas muzykanti (released by Izteiksme) as well as Extravagance, the second album by the Aigars Grāvers-led RamaDance project (released by Platforma) could also be in the running. However, the latter really shouldn’t be in this category. Perhaps it’s time for LaMPA to create an “electronica” or “other” category.

The academic music category is worth watching if you’re a fan of Andrejs Jansons and the New York Latvian Concert Choir. Their recording of the musical Lolitas brīnumputns (which included participation by the Latvian National Opera) is one of five nominated in the category. The album is up against two recordings by the ever-popular Latvian Radio Choir, a recording of the final concert of the 23rd Latvian Song Festival (released by Baltic Records), and Naktstauriņi by Raimonds Pauls (released by MICREC).

Finally, among the special awards to watch is debut of the year. Nominees include Bardo Splash for Bordo, Cosmos for Cosmos, Dzintars Čīča for Nāc un dziedi, Nicol for Melns un balts and Z-Scars for Starp tevi un mani. Although all these new artists are deserving of support from consumers and the record business, Bardo Splash sounds to me to be the most refreshing.

Delete

A song from American-born rapper Delete’s album You’re Not Alone is nominated in this year’s Gada Balva contest.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.