Glezer David (1913–1996) – prominent translator of Latvian literature in the second half of the 20th century; also an athlete.
Born in Riga, David Glezer graduated from Landau’s Jewish Gymnasium in 1931. Between 1934 and 1936, he studied at the Faculty of Architecture in Brno. During the 1930s, he worked as a poster artist, physical education teacher, and ski coach, and was an active participant and multiple-time medalist in the annual Riga–Majori marathon. After the war and up to 1952, he competed in Latvian tennis championships.
In 1940–41, Glezer worked for the Latvian SSR Committee for Physical Culture and Sports. During WWII, he took part in the Battle of Kursk–Belgorod and later served on the Ukrainian Front, fiting in Hungary and Austria. He rose from a rifleman to reconnaissance company commander. His fluency in multiple languages and ability to map intelligence obtained from German POWs during interrogation enabled him, despite being a non-party Jewish private, to serve in officer roles in intelligence units. In 1945, he became a translator in the diplomatic department of Marshal Ivan Konev’s Soviet Forces Command in Austria.
David Glezer interpreted at negotiations with Austrian government representatives and Allied military commanders in Vienna. Glezer was involved in the historic moment when Marshal Konev informed Chancellor Figl of the USSR’s recognition of the postwar Austrian government. For his service, Glezer received numerous medals and decorations.
In early 1947, he was abruptly demobilised and expelled from Austria after authorities discovered that his brother had survived the war through the ghetto and Nazi concentration camps—circumstances that sparked suspicions of “unreliability.” As it later emerged, Soviet leadership struggled hard to replace Glezer’s unique expertise in both German and English.
Upon returning to Riga, Glezer began translating Latvian literature into Russian and soon became one of the USSR’s leading promoters of Latvian fiction. He joined the USSR Writers’ Union in 1952. In the early 1950s, he briefly led the translators’ section of the Latvian Writers’ Union but had to relinquish the post due to the rise of state antisemitism.
His translations brought countless Latvian authors to Russian-speaking readers, including A. Upītis, A. Brodele, A. Sakse, A. Jansons, J. Grants, A. Grigulis, H. Gulbis, E. Salenieks, A. Bels, E. Strods, J. Kalniņš, Z. Dinere, J. Niedre, and many others. His work appeared in Latvia and in major Moscow publishing houses such as Sovetsky Pisatel and Molodaya Gvardiya.
Glezer’s encyclopaedic knowledge, deep mastery of the Russian language, and original thinking drew writers to him. Though he rarely published original work, his novel Marevo (“Mirage”) appeared only in post-independence Latvia. His summer house in Dubulti became a literary salon, frequented by poets and writers such as the Tur brothers, R. Rozhdestvensky, V. Nekrasov, M. Slobodsky, L. Ginzburg, R. Wright-Kovaleva, A. Chakovsky, and B. Dizhura, among others. He remained devoted to sport and continued to participate in senior tennis tournaments in Latvia through the late 1970s.
David Glezer passed away in 1996.
Selected Publications and Translations: