Microbiologist who headed the puppet government chosen by the Soviet embassy in 1940 and requested Latvia’s incorporation into the USSR
Born the son of a tenant on a manor in Mazsalaca, Livonia, he studied at the Tartu Veterinary Institute, took part in the revolution of 1905 and emigrated to Switzerland, working at a tuberculosis institute in Davos. He served as a military veterinarian in the Serbian army in the First World War and as a captain in the veterinary units of the Latvian War of Independence. In 1919 he founded a Microbiology Institute at the University of Latvia, and in 1923 he defended the first doctoral thesis in Latvia; politically he supported social democracy. In June 1940 the Soviet embassy offered him the leadership of the new puppet government; as prime minister, and from 21 July acting president, he requested Latvia’s incorporation into the Soviet Union. He chaired the Latvian SSR Supreme Soviet’s presidium in 1940–1952, joined the Communist Party in 1941 and died in Riga in 1963.
Career timeline
- 1893–1901Tartu Veterinary Institute
- 1911Assistant at the tuberculosis institute in Davos
- 1919Founded the Microbiology Institute at the University of Latvia
- 1940Puppet prime minister and acting president
- 1940–1952Chairman of the Latvian SSR Supreme Soviet’s presidium
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
