Leons Briedis

Leons Briedis (December 16, 1949 – February 1, 2020) was a Latvian poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic and publisher. 
In 1974, Briedis becme a member of the Latvian Writers' Union (several times also a member of the Board), and from 1987 he was a member of the international organisation of writers (poets, essayists, prosaists) — PEN Club. From 1993 to 1997 he was Vice-President of the Latvian PEN Club.
He worked in most diverse culture editions and was Head of poetry section of the newspaper "Literatūra un Māksla" (1986–1987), Editor-in-Chief of the cultural journal "Jaunās Grāmatas", culturological magazine "Grāmata" (1990–1992) and Editor-in- Chief of "Vārds", magazine of the Latvian Writers' Union (1993).
Briedis died on February 1, 2020 in Riga at the age of 70.