We were always told that two brothers settled in South Africa. We do not know their names or ages or when they left Latvia.
However, thanks to Arnold, we now have a picture of one of the South African brothers and his family.
If you look carefully in the bottom right corner, you can see the name of the photographer: E. V. Eggert, Riga. The name of this photographer is a German name, Emmanuel von Eggert. From other pictures found on the Internet, we learn that the photographer’s studio was located at Alexander-Strasse No. 6.
As we know, people in Latvia at that time, identified with the German culture thinking it was more sophisticated than the Russian culture. It appears this photographer was in business from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
Knowing that this picture of the entire family was taken in Lativa, gives us clues as to when they might have emigrated to South Africa, unless they went back there for a visit.
Sources
- Latvian Photographer, Eggert
- University of Latvia and Museum of Literature and Music – Emmanuel Eggert, photography