Alfrēds Čepānis (born 3 August 1943, in

Kalsnava Parish Kalsnava Parish ( lv, Kalsnavas pagasts) is an administrative unit of Madona Municipality in the Vidzeme Vidzeme (; Old Latvian orthography: ''Widda-semme'', liv, Vidūmō) is one of the Historical Latvian Lands. The capital of Latvia, Ri ...

) is a Latvian politician and the former

Speaker of the Saeima The Speaker of the Saeima ( lv, Saeimas priekšsēdētājs; literal translation, lit. "Chairperson of the Saeima") is the speaker (politics), presiding officer of the Parliament of Latvia, the Saeima. If the President of Latvia resigns from offi ...

from 1996 to 1998.

Biography

Čepānis was born in a Lithuanian and Belarusian family, where they spoke only Latvian in their household. In 1957, he graduated from Kalsnava Primary School and continued his studies at Jaungulbene Vocational School and Riga. After graduating from primary school, Čepānis worked in agriculture where was an assistant tractor driver, tractor driver and

combine harvester The modern combine harvester, or simply combine, is a versatile machine designed to efficiently harvest a variety of grain crops. The name derives from its combining four separate harvesting operations—reaping, threshing, gathering, and winnow ...

. From 1968 to 1974, he worked for the

Komsomol The All-Union Leninist Young Communist League (russian: link=no, Всесоюзный ленинский коммунистический союз молодёжи (ВЛКСМ), ), usually known as Komsomol (; russian: Комсомол, links=n ...

and in 1973 graduated in part from the Higher Party School in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. In 1990, Čepānis was elected as the deputy of the Supreme Council in. In 1993m he was elected to the 5th Saeima as a part of the

Democratic Center Party of Latvia The Democratic Center Party ( lv, Demokrātiskā centra partija) was a small centre political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the memb ...

, and two years later was elected to the 6th Saeima as a part of the

Democratic Party "Saimnieks" The Democratic Party "Saimnieks" ( lv, Demokrātiskā partija "Saimnieks") was a Latvian centre-left political party formed through the merger of the Latvian Democratic Party and the political party "Saimnieks" in 1995. It won the 1995 parliament ...

, becoming a member of the

. On September 26, 1996, after

Ilga Kreituse Ilga Kreituse (née Grava, born July 5, 1952, in Tērvete) is a Latvian politician, historian, and former Speaker of the Saeima. Biography Kreituse was born in Tērvete and lived with her family, later moving to Jūrmala. In 1970, she graduated ...

resigned from the faction, Čepānis became the 7th Speaker of the Saeima. In 1999, he was elected to the Council of Trasta Komercbanka and later became its Deputy Chairman in 2006. He was elected to the

Riga City Council Riga City Council ( lv, Rīgas dome) is the government of the city of Riga, the capital of Latvia. Its meeting place is in the Riga Town Hall (''Rīgas rātsnams)'' at the Town Hall Square (''Rātslaukums'') in the very heart of Riga. The Riga C ...

in 2006 for the Latvian Democratic Party, the successor of "Saimnieka." Following the liquidation of Latvian Democratic Party in 2004, he became a founder of the party

New Centre The Centrists (french: Les Centristes, LC), formerly known as New Centre (''Nouveau Centre'', NC) and European Social Liberal Party (''Parti Social Libéral Européen'', PSLE), is a centre-right political party in France formed by the members of t ...

Honors

* : **

LVA Order of the Three Stars - Commander BAR

Commander with Chain of the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars ( lv, Triju Zvaigžņu ordenis) is the highest civilian order awarded for meritorious service to Latvia. It was established in 1924 in remembrance of the founding of Latvia. Its motto is "Per aspera ad astra", meaning "Thr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cepanis, Alfreds 1943 births Living people People from Madona Municipality Communist Party of Latvia politicians Democratic Center Party of Latvia politicians Democratic Party "Saimnieks" politicians New Centre (Latvia) politicians Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1980–1985 Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1985–1990 Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Deputies of the 5th Saeima Deputies of the 6th Saeima Speakers of the Saeima Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars