Griva, žanis

(pseudonym of žanis Karlović Folmanis). Born Nov. 24 (Dec. 7), 1910, in Aizpute Volost (small rural district), in present-day Tukums Raion, Latvian SSR. Soviet Latvian writer; Honored Cultural Worker of the Latvian SSR (1960). Member of the CPSU since 1934.

Griva was born into a farm laborer’s family. In 1930 he became active in the revolutionary underground and published his verses in illegal editions. In 1937 he joined the International Brigade to participate in the struggle of the Spanish people against fascism. During the Great Patriotic War he fought near Tallinn and Leningrad in the ranks of a Latvian rifle division.

Griva’s collection of short stories On That Side of the Pyrenees (1948; Russian translation, 1952), his novella Nocturne (1962). the novel Love and Hate (1963; Russian translation, 1963), and the play A Crime in Grenada (1964) deal with the struggle of the Spanish people. His novel The Road of Life (1952; Russian translation. 1955) portrays the course of battle for the Latvian riflemen during the war. The book of sketches Under the Wings of the Albatross (1956; Russian translation. 1958) concerns the selfless labor of fisherman. The verse play A Snowstorm Rages (1957) portrays the feats of Latvian riflemen during the February Revolution of 1917 in Latvia. The comedy Medusa’s Flesh (1959) and the novel A Man Waits for Dawn (1967) show the spiritual crisis of the Latvian bourgeois intelligentsia.

Griva has written books for children. He was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR at its sixth convocation. He has been awarded five orders and various medals.