Krisjanis Barons

Latvian dainas is a body of more than one million Latvian folk songs. The Latvian daina is usually in quatrain form, a poetic miniature, strict in form but communicating a rich content. In terms of form, dainas are probably closest to the Japanese haiku. For Latvians they represent both a treasure trove of the nation's material and spiritual heritage and a cultural tradition that is very much alive today. 

Who can count the stars …, the phrase quoted on the reverse of the coin above the portrait of Krisjanis Barons (1835-1923), is followed, in the daina, by Who can sing the songs -  a poetic way of stating that Latvians have as many folk songs as there are stars in the sky. A mathematician and astronomer, Barons dedicated almost half of his life to the collection of dainas, keeping track of their number and devising a clever and accurate classification system. By involving schoolteachers, pupils, students and narrators in the process, he helped to salvage this unique cultural treasure, which in 1894-1915 in Jelgava and later in St. Petersburg was published in a six-volume edition. Latvians refer to Barons as the Father of Dainas, recognising that through preserved continuity the nation has inherited eternity.