Aspazija (Elza Pliekšāne)

1865 - 1943

Aspazija was the pen name of Elza Pliekšāne (born Elza Rozenberga; March 16, 1865 – November 5, 1943 in Riga), a Latvian poet and playwright. Aspazija is the Latvian transliteration of Aspasia.
Aspazija was born near Jelgava in 1865, where she studied and was active in youth organizations. In later years she became interested in literature. While participating in New Current (Jaunā strāva) activities, she met one of its leaders, Jānis Pliekšāns (better known as Rainis), a newspaper editor, poet, and lawyer at that time. The couple married in 1897. For a short while they lived in Panevėžys, Lithuania. They were exiled to Russia from 1897–1903, and lived in exile in Switzerland from 1905–1920. When they returned to independent Latvia after World War I, she was active in the feminist movement. Aspazija also joined the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party. Aspazija was member of all sessions of Parliament of Latvia from 1920 to 1934.

Works performed by Ars Nova