Andra Levite (born 16 November 1962) is a Latvian

gynecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined area ...

and obstetrician. Levite, who is married to

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Egils Levits, has served as the First Lady of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

since July 2019.

Biography

Levite was born Andra Apines to a

n family in

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

(present-day

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) on 16 November 1962. She received her medical degree from the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von L ...

in Germany in 1990. Levite married Egils Levits, a Latvian lawyer and politician, in 1991. The couple had two children, Indra and Linards. From 1990 until 2019, Levite practiced as a

gynecology Gynaecology or gynecology (see spelling differences) is the area of medicine that involves the treatment of women's diseases, especially those of the reproductive organs. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, forming the combined are ...

and

obstetrics Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

and Germany. Specifically, she is a certified paediatric and adolescent gynecologist, certified obstetrician, and an

ultrasonography Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of human hearing. Ultrasound is not different from "normal" (audible) sound in its physical properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies fr ...

specialist. She practices in Latvian, English, German and French. She returned to Latvia full-time upon the election of her husband as

President of Latvia The president of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Valsts prezidents ) is head of state and commander-in-chief of the Latvian National Armed Forces, National Armed Forces of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. The term of office is four years. Before 1999, it w ...

and assumed the role of first lady in July 2019. Levite temporarily left medicine to focus on her new duties as first lady. On 28 April 2020, First Lady Levite resumed her medical profession as a member of the ARS Medical Centre's Women’s Consulting Department in

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, which continuing to serve as the country's first lady. In July 2022, Levite spoke in-person at the "Ukraine and the World: The Future We (Re)build Together"

Kyiv Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen Kyiv Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen ( uk, Київський саміт перших леді та джентльменів) is an international initiative of the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. The theme of the first summit was Soft ...

at the invitation of

First Lady of Ukraine First Lady of Ukraine ( or ) is the unofficial title attributed to the wife of the president of Ukraine. List of first ladies of Ukraine '' days'' , , '' days'' ''()'' , - ! , , style="font-weight:bold" , Lyudmyla Kuchma , Mechanical e ...

Olena Zelenska Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska (;russian: Елена Владимировна Зеленская, , Elena Vladimirovna Zelenskaya, born 6 February 1978) is a Ukrainian architect and screenwriter who is the current First Lady of Ukraine as the ...

and President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

. In her remarks, the first lady promised that Latvia would help with the country's reconstruction following the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

, noting "Latvia, from the government to businessmen and civil society, is with

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

today, tomorrow and certainly also after Ukraine's victory in this brutal war. Latvia is ready to participate in the process of rebuilding Ukraine." In her opening speech, Levite also cited parallels between Ukraine and the Soviet occupation of Latvia, noting that "for more than 50 years, the Latvian people suffered the same pain that the Ukrainians are experiencing now. Therefore, Latvia has without doubt and hesitation provided support to Ukraine in all possible areas and will continue to do so in the future. On 23 July 2022, Levite and

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

First Lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

Diana Nausėdienė Diana Nausėdienė ( Nepaitė; born 9 July 1964) is a Lithuanian business manager and lecturer, she is the wife of the current President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda and has served as the First Lady of Lithuania since 12 July 2019. Early life ...

visited Irpin, site of the

Irpin refugee column shelling On 6 March 2022, from 9:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. local time, the Russian Armed Forces repeatedly shelled an intersection in Irpin that hundreds of civilians were using to escape to Kyiv, whilst a Ukrainian artillery position was located nearby. They k ...

attack by Russian forces during the invasion of Ukraine. Levite and Nausėdienė also laid flowers at a mass grave in

Bucha, Kyiv Oblast Bucha ( uk, Буча, ) is a city in Ukraine's Kyiv Oblast. Administratively, it serves as the administrative center of Bucha Raion. It hosts the administration of Bucha urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Its population is approximat ...

, the site of the March 2022 Bucha massacre of Ukrainian civilians by

Russian Armed Forces The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation (, ), commonly referred to as the Russian Armed Forces, are the military forces of Russia. In terms of active-duty personnel, they are the world's fifth-largest military force, with at least two m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Levite, Andra Living people 1962 births First Ladies and Gentlemen of Latvia Latvian gynecologists Latvian obstetricians University of Giessen alumni Latvian expatriates in Germany Latvian expatriates in Luxembourg