Rozentāls was born in Bebri Farmstead, Saldus parish, Courland Governorate in the Russian Empire. He was the son of a blacksmith. He received the basic education at H.Krause’s Elementary School in Saldus and Kuldīga District School. At the age of fifteen he left for Riga and consistently tried to realize his dream about art, later entering Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts.

During study vacations the developing artist visited his native land to relax from the hectic rhythm of the large city, paint motifs from nature and commissioned portraits. For his diploma work he took as models the young educated Latvians and local farmers.

A little later the artist decided to settle in Saldus as he wanted to live among his people and create art appropriate to its aspirations and feelings. In spring 1899 Rozentāls bought a building plot at the Striķu street and set up a studio, but his intents were not well received in the provincial town, and he moved to Riga two years later. Now a memorial museum is arranged in the building designed by the artist.

Elli

Fateful turn in life of the painter happened in November, 1902, when Janis Rozentāls got acquainted with Elli Forssell (1871–1943), a Finnish singer, in Riga. On February 20, 1903, they got married. They found home in a flat- studio, on Albert street in Riga. They had three children – Laila, Irja and Miķelis.

World War I interrupted the family’s life in a villa in Kulosaari, Helsinki where they lived from 1905 to 1916.

While coming from exhibition in Moscow he got ill and died on December 26, 1916 in Helsinki. He was buried in Hietaniemi Cemetery, though later was reburied in Forest Cemetery in Riga in 1920. Today, the Janis Rozentāls Art Highschool in Riga is named after him, and has had his name since 1946. Source: Wikipedia.