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.
Activities and affiliations
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
- 2001–2009Riga City Council deputy
Related historical events
- 1988–1991The Nationalities Crisis and the Collapse of Central AuthorityRallied people to defend Latvia’s parliamentOn 13 January 1991, he reported the events in Vilnius on Latvian Radio and called people to defend the Supreme Council.
- 1987–1991The Baltic Independence Movement and the Baltic WayChairman of the Latvian Popular FrontAs Popular Front chairman co-led the Baltic Way trilateral meetings at Pärnu and Cēsis; his memoirs record the tension of those clandestine gatherings.
The January 1991 Barricades and the Radio Address
After the Popular Front's landslide in the March 1990 Supreme Council elections, Īvāns became deputy speaker of the Supreme Council and was part of the transitional leadership when the parliament declared its intent to restore independence on 4 May 1990. In the early hours of 13 January 1991, Soviet troops attacked the Vilnius television tower, killing 14 and injuring more than 100. At 4:45 a.m. that day Īvāns, as deputy speaker of the Supreme Council and a board member of the Popular Front, addressed the people on Latvian Radio, reporting the events in Vilnius and calling on them to gather in Doma Square to defend the Supreme Council. This appeal became the signal for the rally in defence of the parliament, and the demonstration held that afternoon drew about 500,000 people. Īvāns and Popular Front chairman Romualds Ražuks urged the defence of strategically important sites, and during the Barricades period from 13 to 27 January citizens guarded the Supreme Council and Council of Ministers buildings, the radio station and the bridges of Riga. The violence continued, and a 20 January attack by OMON special police on the Interior Ministry killed five and injured thirteen, but the mass physical defence made the pro-Soviet forces' plan to seize power impossible to carry out. Īvāns resigned as deputy speaker in February 1992 and returned to journalism.