Juris kupris biography sample

When the Russians invaded Latvia in , Vilma Kupris took only what was most vital to her survival: a few sweaters, some smoked bacon and a pickle-sized jar of sourdough starter.

Fleeing by horsedrawn wagon, she carried the precious jar with her to Germany, where she, her husband, their two children and her husband’s mother endured six years in refugee camps.

The jar of starter dough was with her when she and her family arrived in America in and settled in Willimantic.

Today, the starter that was used by her grandmother is still the key ingredient in the Kupris Home Bakery’s Latvian rye bread, a rich, dark bread that soothes the soul as well as the appetite.

“In our culture, the bread was foundation,” says the petite, year-old Kupris in halting English.

“In Latvia, women bake the bread. The best woman can make very good bread.”

After years of baking bread for her family and for her boarders in Willimantic, Kupris decided at the age of 60 that s