Three famous Latvian women (2): Emilija Benjamina
Liden & Denz invites you to discover three incredible Latvian women, whose contributions have shaped Latvian art and history. Today, let’s discover the story of Emilija Benjamina! You can find the previous article of this series here.
Formal portrait of Emilija Benjamin taken in a photo-salon in the 1920s (public domain)
Promising débuts
Emilija Benjamina was born in Riga in 1881. Her mother worked for a German newspaper, which led the young Emilija to start a career in publishing. Aged 17, she started working for a German-language newspaper, where she met Anton Benjamiņš, who was 21 years older than her. She divorced her first husband, who turned out alcoholic and violent, and live instead with Anton Benjamiņš, with whom she practically managed the newspaper. Yet, Anton Benjamiņš did not divorce his wife until 1922.
In 1911, she founded her own newspaper, Jaunākās Ziņas, and convinced all the best Latvian journalists to work for her. The idea was to create the first Latvian-language newspaper. Her publication was the first mass-printed newspaper published in Latvian, and it gained popularity among Latvian population.
World War I
During World War I, Emilija Benjamina had no choice but to shut down her newspaper. She even fled to Germany for some time. Jaunākās Ziņas printing house was used by the Soviet Army to print propaganda. However, when the war ended, the Bolsheviks left the country, leaving behind a huge amount of material, including paper, which was significantly expensive at the time. Moreover, since Germany had been defeated, all the company’s debts towards German printing companies were cleared. Thus, Jaunākās Ziņas had a major advantage over other printing houses.
The « Press Queen »
After World War I, Emilija Benjamina and her second husband started to literally build a media empire. They founded other magazines and newspapers. Benjamina expanded towards other industries, such as chemical manufacturing.
After the death of her husband Anton, Emilija Benjamina inherited control over every company owned by the couple, as well as the twelve properties they owned. In the 30s, she was definitely the richest woman in Latvia, if not in Eastern Europe.
A tragic ending
Unfortunately for Benjamina, her businesses were nationalized by the Soviet regime during World War II. Jaunākās Ziņas resumed its activities in August 1940. Fearing the new-ruling communist regime, Emilija Benjamina tried to find diplomatic protection for her and her adopted son. She even considered fleeing to Nazi Germany, trying to seek help from her high-profile acquaintances, but she was considered as an enemy of the Reich for that she advocated for parliamentarism.
In 1941, Emilija Benjamina was deported from Latvia to Usollag Gulag camp where she died on 23 September 1941, aged 60.
Architectural legacy
Together with her second husband, Benjamina bought the finest properties in Riga and in the whole country. Among others, they bought the so-called Pfab Palace, located on 12 Kristiana Barona street, a few steps from the Liden & Denz school.
Pfab Palace in Riga
Emilija Benjamina House in Jurmala
Facing the Baltic sea in Jurmala, the Emilija Benjamina House served as a State Estate. A summer house for Soviet apparatchiks, foreign heads of states also stayed in the house. While in Jurmala, I strongly advise to walk by the house to admire the remarkable sculptured metal fence, typical of Art Deco.
She also famously possessed one of the finest collections of fine China, as well as a gold cutlery set owned by tsar Nicholas II. Unfortunately, these treasures were stolen during World War II.
This article was brought to you by Theo, currently studying Russian at Liden & Denz Riga.
Pictures displayed in this article were either taken by the author, either selected from public domain.
