Ernests Blanks ( in Braslava, Valmiera County, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire – 31 January 1972 in

Palma Palma or La Palma means palm in a number of languages and may also refer to: Geography Africa *Palma, Mozambique, city ** Palma District *La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain **La Palma (DO), a ''Denominación de Origen'' for wines from the ...

Majorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

, Spain), publicist, the first to publicly advocate for Latvia's independence in 1917. Ernests Blanks was editorial writer of '' Dzimtenes Atbalss'' (Fatherland's Echo). At a time when others discussed Latvia's and, the other Baltic countries, autonomy, Ernests Blanks dared to demand sovereignty for Latvia. Already on Ernests Blanks unequivocally wrote: "Our ideal is a sovereign Latvia." After the state of Latvia had been established he reminded that the Latvians had regained their long lost freedom. For some time he was a deputy of the first Parliament

Tautas Padome The People's Council of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas padome, LTP) was a temporary council which declared Latvia's independence on November 18, 1918 and then acted as the temporary parliament of the country until a Constitutional Assembly was elec ...

, which preceded the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the po ...

. He wrote about the Saeima, but mostly about the

Latvian National Awakening The Latvian National Awakening ( lv, latviešu

r latvju R, or r, is the eighteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''ar'' (pronounced ), plural ''ars'', or in Irelan ...

tautas atmoda) refers to three distinct but ideologically related Romantic nationalism, National revival movements: * the ''The First Latvian National Awakening, First Awakening'' refers ...

and its activists. He was one of them, although discreet about his own role. The author of about 700 editorials on Latvian national political issues (alone), and at least 15 books, several of which have appeared in 2nd and 3rd editions. Ernests Blanks devoted his life to defending the sovereignty of the state of Latvia with his pen. Thus, during the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic, he was a

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

in his own fatherland.

Biography

Blanks was born on in Braslava municipality in Valmiera County, Governorate of Livonia, Russian Empire. His parents were leaseholders until the family moved to

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 ...

where he attended school. Starting 1914 he studied history and

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

at the Shanyavskiy University in Moscow as an unenrolled, external student. He was one of the leaders of the

Latvian National Democratic Party Latvian may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Latvia **Latvians, a Baltic ethnic group, native to what is modern-day Latvia and the immediate geographical region **Latvian language, also referred to as Lettish **Latvian cuisine **Latvi ...

(LNDP). In Latvia Ernests Blanks was editor of numerous newspapers and journals, and published papers in even more. Ernests Blanks was honoured with the

Three-Star Order 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 ...

(of the 4th class) 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 ...

in 1928. In 1945 Ernests Blanks fled in exile to Germany where he continued the editorial and publishing work. He died in exile January 31, 1972 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

References

Uldis Ģērmanis Uldis Ģērmanis () was a Latvian historian, writer and publicist born in Novaya Ladoga, Russian Empire. His father was Jānis Ģermanis, and his family returned to the newly independent Latvia in 1919. He taught history at the University of ...

(Transl. P. Lazda): ''The idea of independent Latvia and its development in 1917.'' Res Baltica. A collection of essays in honor of the memory of Dr. Alfred Bilmanis (1887–1948). Eds: A. Sprudzs, A. Rusis. Leyden, The Netherlands: A.W. Sijthoff, 1968, 27-87. *

: ''Oberst Vācietis und die lettischen Schűtzen im Weltkrieg und in der Oktoberrevolution.'' Acta Universitatis Stockholmiensis, Stockholm Studies in History. Stockholm, Sweden: Almquist & Wiksell, 1974. * Ernests Blanks: ''Editorials'' in Dzimtenes Atbalss, 1917, 30 (17) May; on 1917, 13 June (31) May; on 1917, 16 (3) June; on 1917, 11 July (28) June. Nr. 49; and on 1917, 21 (8) July. No. 52. *

: ''Latvijas neatkarības idejas attīstība.'' Jaunā Gaita, 1966, 60, 33-34. * Ernests Blanks: ''Latvju tautas ceļš uz neatkarīgu valsti''. Västerås, Sweden: Ziemeļblāzma, 1970. *

: ''Ernests Blanks – publicists un ideologs.'' Jaunā Gaita, 1972, 90, 52. *

Ādolfs Šilde Ādolfs is a Latvian masculine given name, a variant of Adolf, and may refer to: *Ādolfs Alunāns (1848–1912), Latvian playwright, director and actor *Ādolfs Bļodnieks (1889–1962), Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia * ...

: ''Latvijas vēsture 1914–1940. Valsts tapšana un suverēnā valsts.'' Stockholm, Sweden: Daugava, 1976. * ''Latvijas Enciklopēdija''. Riga: V. Belokoņs, 2002, 1, 705. * ''Latviešu rakstniecība biogrāfijās''. Riga: LU Literatūras, folkloras un mākslas institūts, Latvijas Enciklopēdija, 2003, 91-92. * ''Latvijas Vēstures Institūta Žurnāls'', Riga: 2008, 67 (2), pp. 47–60 (http://www.lvi.lv/lv/LVIZ.htm) {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanks, Ernests 1894 births 1972 deaths People from Limbaži Municipality People from Kreis Wolmar Latvian writers