Berta Rumnietse

(in Latvian, Berta Rūmniece). Born Oct. 21, 1865, in Aizkraukle, in what is now Ogre Raion; died Mar. 8, 1953, in Riga. Soviet Latvian actress. People’s Artist of the Latvian SSR (1945).

Rumnietse began acting in the Latvian theater in Riga in 1883, initially under the stage name Graudiţa. In 1919 she began performing at the Latvian Drama Theater in Riga. Her best roles included Aža and Indrāni’s mother in Blaumanis’ The Prodigal Son and Indrāni, the Witch and Tuŝe in Rainis’ Fire and the Night and Blow, Little Breeze!, Krusa’s Mother in Grigulis’ Clay and Ceramics (State Prize of the USSR, 1948), Glumova in Ostrovskii’s Even a Wise Man Stumbles, and Kniertjie in Heijermans’ The Good Hope.

Rumnietse was one of the founders of the Latvian national theater. She was awarded the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner of Labor, and various medals.