In a Riga tailor’s apartment on 27 October 1901, Aleksandrs Čadarainis was born – later Aleksandrs Čaks. His parents, Jānis and Emīlija, gave him an ordinary name, but he brought an extraordinary city into Latvian literature: cabmen, asphalt, the intoxication of the suburbs, and the modern nerve. “Sirds uz trotuāra” gave voice to Riga’s street, while “Mūžības skartie” spoke for the memory of the Latvian Riflemen.

Čaks belonged to the interwar modernist generation that brought the rhythm of the city, the language of the outskirts, and contemporary irony into Latvian poetry. His last apartment, at Lāčplēša Street 48, apartment 8, now preserves a memorial ensemble and reminds visitors how closely his poetry became entwined with Riga.