Māris Čaklais, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death

Māris Čaklais

Latvian poet

Date of Birth: 16-Jun-1940

Place of Birth: Saldus, Saldus Municipality, Latvia

Date of Death: 13-Dec-2003

Profession: poet, journalist

Nationality: Latvia

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Maris Caklais (16 June 1940 – 13 December 2003) was a Latvian poet, writer, and journalist. Caklais studied journalism at the University of Latvia until 1964; his first publications appeared in 1960.
He translated to Latvian Bertolt Brecht, Paul Celan, Hans Magnus Enzensberger, and Rainer Maria Rilke, among others.
He also wrote the lyrics, which were set to Imants Kalninš' music in the movie directed by Rolands Kalninš, Four White Shirts ("Elpojiet dzilak!” (Breathe Deeper!)) and Ferenc Molnár's play "Liliom". Caklais worked at the newspapers "Literatura un Maksla" (Literature and Art) and "Literatura un Maksla Latvija” (Literature and Art in Latvia), and for the Radio Free Europe.
In 2000, Caklais was a member of the Latvian delegation to the European writers project Literature Express Europe 2000. From 2000 to 2003, he was the editor-in-chief of the literary journal "Karogs". Following re-establishing of Latvian independence in 1990, Caklais received the Fridtjof Nansen International Award (1994), the Latvian Annual Literature Award (2000), the Order of the Three Stars (2000), and the Herder Prize (2002). He died in Riga in 2003.