Janis Petrovich Zarins

Born Apr. 29 (May 12), 1913, in Ruiena, present-day Valmiera Raion, Latvian SSR. Soviet sculptor. Honored Art Worker of the Latvian SSR (1971).

Zariņš studied under K. Zz̄le in the Latvian Academy of Arts from 1936 to 1942. He sculptured a number of monumentalized, emotionally tense portraits of Latvian revolutionaries and cultural figures, as well as thematic works full of romantic inspiration. His sculptures in the Art Museum of the Latvian SSR in Riga include Rich Har\\>est (granite, 1957) and a portrait of the conductor A. Melbardis (bronze, 1958). Zariņšs also created a granite portrait of his wife (1958, Tret’iakov Gallery) and the granite statue Morning (1958, placed in the vicinity of Bastion Hill in Riga); both received the State Prize of the Latvian SSR in 1959. He built monuments to the Civil War hero J. Fabriciuss (granite, 1954) and to the fighters of the 1905 Revolution (granite, 1960-61) in Ventspils. He also designed a monument to V. I. Lenin (bronze and granite, 1970) in Gulbene. Zariņš collaborated on the memorial ensemble to the victims of the fascist terror in Salaspils (concrete, 1961-67; Lenin Prize, 1970).