User:Karlisr/Melānija Vanaga

Melānija Vanaga (nee Šleija, born September 4th, 1905 in Drabeši parish “Kalna Sermuļi”, died September 23rd, 1997 un Carnikava) was a Latvian writer and journalist.

Biography
Melānija Vanaga was born on September 4th, 1905 in Drabeši parish “Kalna Sermuļi”. She started studying at the Dole (now Amata) primary school in the fall of 1912 and later studied at the Cesis Gymnasium. She later commenced law studies at the Latvian Unversity. She worked at a court, and as a journalist in newspapers "Brīvā Zeme" and "Daugavas Vēstnesis", as well as the Latvian Radio.

On June 14th, 1941. Vanaga was deported to Siberia Krasnoyarsk Oblast together with her eight-year old son Alnis. Her husband Aleksandrs was separated from the family and sent to a gulag camp in the Urals, where he was shot to death in 1942. She returned to Latvia in 1957. She worked as a herder in the kolhozs in vicinity of Cesis, where she started collecting local histories, stories, documents, and photos.

In 2000, a memorial musem to Vanaga was opened at the Amata primary school.

In 2016, director Viesturs Kairišs released a biopic film "The Chronicles of Melanie" based on her book "Veļupes krastā".