A steadfast defender of Latvia's Communist Party at the Soviet Union's end
After the August 1991 coup attempt, he was arrested, becoming a jailed defendant after trying to preserve the Soviet union-wide order.
Alfrēds Rubiks was a Latvian communist politician formed by work in Riga's municipal administration and the Communist Party of Latvia. In the conflict between the Soviet system and Latvian independence, he sought to preserve the party's union-wide order, and his support for the August 1991 coup attempt brought arrest, conviction, and imprisonment. After his release, he continued that political line as leader of the Socialist Party of Latvia and later as a Member of the European Parliament.
Career Timeline
- 1954–1957Served in the Soviet Army
- 1957–1961Process engineer at the Riga Electromachine-Building Plant
- 1982–1984Minister of Local Industry of the Latvian SSR
- 1984–1990Chairman of the Riga City Executive Committee
- 1990–1991First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia and member of the CPSU Politburo
- 1991–1997Imprisoned over the 1991 coup attempt, sentenced to eight years in 1995
- 1999–2015Chairman of the Socialist Party of Latvia
- 2009–2014Member of the European Parliament
The Soviet Politburo
- Full member 1990.07–1991.08
served until the party ban of 1991.11