Pastor and writer who headed Latvia's pro-German government of 1919
"Not clever speeches or treaties but force decides a nation's fate," he declared at his 1924 treason trial.
A leading Latvian novelist and Lutheran pastor, he headed the pro-German government backed by von der Goltz after the Liepāja coup of 1919. His regime fell after Cēsis, he fled to Germany and, returning in 1924, was tried for treason and expelled.
Career timeline
1890–1899Studied theology at the University of Dorpat (Tartu)
1903–1906Edited and published the journal Austrums in Cēsis
1906–1918Lutheran pastor in the Matīši, Kalsnava and Vietalva parishes
1917Co-founded the Latvian Farmers' Union, member of its board
1919.05–06Prime Minister of the pro-German provisional government
1924Convicted of treason, then expelled by presidential pardon
1926–1930Pastor of a German congregation in Altstadt, East Prussia
Latvia's prime minister in the war of independence, later dictator after the 1934 coup
On the day of the occupation his radio address ordered no resistance: "I will remain in my place and you remain in yours."
Prime minister of Latvia's provisional government from November 1918, he survived the Soviet army, a German coup and Bermondt's army in turn and led the Riga peace and land reform of 1920. He set up a dictatorship by coup in 1934 and, deported by the Soviets in 1940, died in prison in 1942.
Career timeline
1918-11First prime minister of Latvia's provisional government
1920Led the Riga peace treaty and land reform
1918–1934Farmers' Union leader; prime minister and foreign minister several times
1934-05Bloodless coup with army and Aizsargi backing
1936-04Also state president, styled himself leader of the people
1939-10Signed treaty allowing Soviet bases
1940-07Forced from office and deported after Soviet occupation
Latvia's first foreign minister, who won international recognition for its independence
One of the most influential statesmen and diplomats of the early Latvian Republic. As its first foreign minister he drove the 1920 peace treaty with Soviet Russia, de jure recognition and League of Nations admission; he died in a car crash in 1925.
Latvia's first foreign minister, he won de facto British recognition in 1918, the Riga peace of 1920, and de jure Allied recognition and League membership in 1921. He also served as prime minister and died in a road accident in 1925 at thirty-eight.
Career timeline
1917Co-founder of the Latvian Farmers' Union; head of the Vidzeme Land Council's financial division
1918Appointed Latvia's first foreign minister
1920Concluded the Riga peace treaty with Soviet Russia
1921Secured de jure Allied recognition and League of Nations membership
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
The Communist Party secretary who led Latvia's Supreme Council through the restoration of independence
On 14 January 1991, General Kuzmin's ultimatum to the chairman of the Supreme Council was simple: repeal the laws Latvia had adopted, or the army would act. Gorbunovs did not repeal them, and a week later flew to Moscow to face Gorbachev.
A farmer's son from Pilda in eastern Latvia, he graduated from construction college, Riga Polytechnical Institute, and the Moscow Academy of Social Sciences, then rose through the Latvian Communist Party apparatus to become Central Committee secretary for ideology. He broke with the party's hard line in 1988 by backing the Latvian Popular Front, and as Chairman of the Supreme Council presided over the 4 May 1990 session that declared the Soviet Union an occupying power and began the transition to restored independence. During the January 1991 Barricades he stood firm against General Kuzmin's ultimatum, then flew to Moscow on 21 January to confront Gorbachev directly.
Career timeline
1959–1965Technician at Nīkrāce state farm, employee at Riga Agricultural Engineering Institute, Soviet Army service
1970–1974Senior lecturer at Riga Polytechnical Institute, Kirov district Komsomol first secretary
1974–1988Various posts in the Latvian Communist Party Central Committee, rising to secretary for ideology
1988–1990Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian SSR
1990–1993Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia, acting head of state after independence
1993–1995Speaker of the 5th Saeima
1995–2002Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Minister for Transport
The physicist who walked Latvia out of the USSR and commanded the nights of the barricades
On the night of 20 January 1991, after Soviet special forces stormed Latvia's Interior Ministry, killing five, Godmanis telephoned Soviet interior minister Boris Pugo, who told him: 'I was not involved.'
A Latvian physicist turned politician, Godmanis earned his doctorate in solid-state physics and taught at the University of Latvia before joining the Latvian Popular Front in 1987. After the Front's victory in the 1990 Supreme Council elections, he became the first prime minister of a Latvia that had declared the restoration of its independence, and during the January 1991 barricades he coordinated the defense of strategic sites and personally telephoned Soviet interior minister Boris Pugo, who denied any involvement in the OMON attack. He returned as prime minister in 2007, steering Latvia through the global financial crisis until his resignation in 2009.
Career timeline
1973–1988Lecturer at University of Latvia, researcher at Institute of Solid State Physics
The journalist who saved the Daugava River and led the Latvian Popular Front
'Standing up for the Daugava meant the same thing as standing up for an independent Latvia. The fight against the Daugavpils HPP was the start of our revolution.'
A Latvian journalist and politician. In 1986, his article in Literatūra un Māksla, co-written with Arturs Snips, sparked public opposition to the Daugavpils hydroelectric dam; the campaign gathered 30,000 signatures and forced the Soviet Council of Ministers to halt construction in 1987. At the founding congress of the Latvian Popular Front in October 1988 he was elected its first chairman, turning a mass movement born of environmental protest toward the political goal of restoring independence. He served as deputy speaker of the Supreme Council after the Front's 1990 electoral victory, resigned in 1992 and returned to journalism, later leading the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party and serving on the Riga City Council.
Career timeline
1979Began journalism, theatre and literary criticism
1986Published 'Thinking about the fate of the Daugava,' sparking anti-dam campaign. Named Most Popular Journalist
1988–1990Chairman of the Latvian Popular Front
1990–1992Deputy Speaker of the Supreme Council of Latvia
1992–1998Commentator and culture editor at Neatkarīgā Cīņa and other papers
2002–2005Chairman of the Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party
