On 30 April 1909, Konstantīns Raudive was born at Slāņi in the Mazie Baranauči hamlet of Asūne Parish – a philosopher, essayist, writer, and translator who became one of interwar Latvia’s leading interpreters of Spanish culture. He translated Cervantes and Unamuno, was the life partner and creative companion of Zenta Mauriņa, and in exile in Germany gained international, controversial fame through parapsychological experiments – the so-called “Raudive voices,” or electronic voice phenomena.

Raudive’s biography links rural Latgale, the European-minded intellectual life of interwar Latvia, and postwar exile culture. His writings and translations broadened Latvian readers’ view of Spanish thought, while his later parapsychological research made his name known beyond conventional literary history.