Ernests Elks-Elksnītis

Ernests Elks-Elksnītis was an actor, director of the Latvian National Opera in Riga, and opera singer (baritone). He attended the Dzēbenes Church School and began studying education while at the same time working as a choir and operetta singer. After 1910, he studied music and singing professionally in Rīgā and Bruxelles. In 1915-20 Elks-Elksnītis was in Russia with Latvian refugees in Siberia, where he was one of the founders of the Troick Regiment, comprising of Latvians fighting against Germany and the Bolsheviks. After his return to Latvia, he wrote critics about musical performances and ultimately took up a job as a bank manager. Until 1909, he was married to Emīlija Benjamiņa, later Latvian “Press Queen” and one of the richest women in Europe, who eventually died in a Russian labor camp.