First Man – Kaspars Aleksandrs Irbe’s diary volume “Hidden Life” has been published / Article

Life without memories is an inanimate life! This was the opinion of Kaspars Aleksandrs Irbe from Jūrmala, who started writing a diary in 1927 and did so until the end of his life in 1996. Being gay, Irbe lived in seclusion, and the general public only learned about the diary after his death. Irbe’s records are a unique document of the era, which reflects what has been happening in Latvia for almost fifty years. The first volume of Kaspars Aleksandrs Irbe’s diaries “Hidden Life. Homosexual Diary 1927-1949. ‘

“I have both extremes combined – hell and heaven!” This is what Kaspars Aleksandrs Irbe from Jūrmala wrote in his diary. Irbe kept the diary secret for many years, the general public learned about it only after his death and thanks to the efforts of Irbe’s heir Ainars Radovics to preserve the unique records. Now the first volume of Irbe’s diaries “Hidden Life. Homosexual Diary ”. It contains records made between 1927 and 1949.

“Many things are not emotionally accessible and understandable to us, but when we are informed and understand the experiences and circumstances of some part of society, we become much better able to function,” commenting Antonija Skopa, chairman of the board of Ascendum. .

Memories and observations about the experience during Ulmanis, the years of occupation and the restored country of Latvia are a unique historical material that has been created for almost fifty years.

“It’s a reflection, a reflection on important issues. Also about who I am and how I feel. And also what you see are those observations, ”said historian Ineta Lipša. “He had a very high self-esteem. He was also an educated man, he read a lot, regularly went to performances at the National Opera and Ballet. It is a part of the past that is usually left overboard in these classic and traditional narratives of political history. ”

This diary serves as proof that homosexual people have always been in Latvia – notes Kaspars Zālītis, a representative of LGBT and their friends’ association “Mozaika”: “And also proof that at the time he lived, his life was not extremely repressive.”

It is planned to continue the book series and to publish Irbe’s diaries created in later years in the future. As Andrejs Vīksna, the project manager of the book, emphasized: “Most of all, however, it is that it is Irbe and he appears there as a person. First as a person. In all its contradictions, beautiful and ugly. I think that’s also important. ”

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