Krišjanis Barons - Riga, Latvia - Dead Poets' Society Memorials on Waymarking.com

This larger than life-size stone bust of Krišjanis Barons depicts him with at first glance appears to be a very elongated head. However, a photo of him on Wikipedia shows him with a very long beard. No doubt that explains the elongated appearance of the bust. In addition to the long beard, he has a mustache. He has a broad forehead. His eyes are squinted and he appears to be looking straight out in front of himself.

The rectangular stone plinth is about 5 feet tall. On the front of the plinth is his name. On the back of the plinth are inscriptions in both Russian and Latvia that when translated to English read:

AND

ABOUT THE MAN:

A marker at the site of another bust of Barons in Riga (visit link) provides the following information:

"Krišjanis Barons (1835-1923) was a folklorist, writer, and publicist. His most outstanding contribution to the history of the Latvian people was his huge collection of Latvian folk quatrains or dainas, which he systematised by creating the "Dainas Cabinet." He himself designed the piece of furniture in 1880, and since 2001, it has been part of UNESCO's "Memory of the World" project. Barons published six volumes of dainas, with 217,996 quatrains in all. He is known for that reason as the father of the dainas. The volumes speak to the unique national aspects of the Latvian people, as well as their way of thinking. During his life, Barons published more than 150 articles about natural sciences and education. He opposed superstitions and laid the foundations for the popularly scientific style of literary Latvia language. Barons wrote stories and poems in line with the progressive efforts of his age. He was also a translator."