The Early Life of Mark Rothko Mark Rothko was born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz in 1903. He was born in Dvinsk, Russia, in a place now known as Daugavpils, Latvia. His family lived within the Pale of Settlement, a region marked by political unrest and the constant shadow of pogroms. This atmosphere of instability followed the family when they emigrated to the United States in 1913. After passing through Ellis Island, they settled in Portland, Oregon. His father, Jacob, worked as a pharmacist. He was an intellectual man with socialist leanings who fostered a home centered on learning and de…