Amtman-Briedit, Alfred Fritsevich

Amtman-Briedit, Alfred Fritsevich 

(real surname Amtmanis). Born July 24 (Aug. 5), 1885, in the volost (small rural district) of Vallsk, province of Kurland; died May 15, 1966, in Riga. Soviet Lettish producer and actor; People’s Artist of the USSR (1953).

Amtman-Briedit began his stage career in 1903. From 1919 he worked in the Latvian Drama Theater in Riga; from 1944 he was artistic director and from 1949 chief producer. Amtman-Briedit was one of the greatest Lettish realist actors. His roles included Uldis and Indulis (in Blow, Wind! and Indulis and Ariia by Rainis), Atvasar (in Clay and Porcelain by Grigulis), and Knurov (in The Girl Without a Dowry by Ostrovskii). He produced the plays The Fisherman’s Son by Latsis (1949), The Green Earth by Upit (1950), The Days of the Tailors at Silmachi by Blaumanis (1955), and others. From 1949 he was a professor in the Department of Theater of the State Conservatory of the Latvian SSR. He won the state prize of the USSR in 1948, 1950, and 1951, and he was awarded two orders.

REFERENCE

Zandersons, R. Alfreds Amtmanis-Brieditis. [Riga, 1953.]