Voldemārs Avens (1924–2022) – poet and painter. He received his basic education in Daugavpils and graduated from secondary school in Saldus. He was conscripted into the Latvian Legion and ended up in Germany, where he studied architecture at the Baltic University. After emigrating to the United States, he studied at the Art Students League of New York (1951–1953) and at Columbia University (1953–1958). He worked as a designer and architect in New York. He organized solo exhibitions of his paintings, including in Latvia, and also worked as a book illustrator.