Jānis Vagris (born ) is a Latvian politician. He served as the sixth Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1985 to 1988, and as Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia from 1988 to 1990.

Early life

Vagris was born on 17 October 1930 in Naudītes Parish. He graduated from the Faculty of Mechanics at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Universitāte, shortened ''LU'') is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia established in 1919. The ''QS World University Rankings'' places the university between 801st and 1000th globally, seventh ...

and the Higher Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1955.

Career

He then worked as an engineer at a factory in

Jelgava Jelgava (; german: Mitau, ; see also other names) is a state city in central Latvia about southwest of Riga with 55,972 inhabitants (2019). It is the largest town in the region of Zemgale (Semigalia). Jelgava was the capital of the united Duch ...

. During this time Vagris also served as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the city. Vagris joined the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

in 1958. From 1966 to 1973, Vagris was the first and second secretary of the Liepājā city committee, after which he joined the

Communist Party of Latvia The Communist Party of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Komunistiskā partija, LKP) was a political party in Latvia. History Latvian Social-Democracy prior to 1919 The party was founded at a congress in June 1904. Initially the party was known as the Latvia ...

. In 1978 Vagris was appointed as the first secretary of the Riga city committee. On he became the sixth chairmen of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic. On Vagris was promoted to the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Latvia. He made a speech at the

Mežaparks Great Bandstand The Mežaparks Great Bandstand (), also called the Song Festival Bandstand, Open-Air Stage (), is a large open-air bandstand in Mežaparks park in the Mežaparks neighbourhood of Riga, the capital of Latvia. The bandstand has added cultural ...

, three days before the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Tautas fronte) was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the ...

's first congress. In 1989 Vagris was elected to the Congress of People's Deputies of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. On Vagris was succeeded by

Alfrēds Rubiks Alfrēds Rubiks (russian: Альфред Петрович Рубикс, ''Alfred Petrovich Rubiks''; born 24 September 1935, in Daugavpils), is a Latvian communist politician and a former leader of the Communist Party of Latvia. He was a Member ...

as secretary. In later evaluations, Vagris' role during the revival was revealed to be ambiguous.

Awards

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 ...

and the role of Officer (2010) * Orders of the October Revolution * Red Banner of Labour. * Meritorious Industrial Worker of the Latvian SSR.

References

{{Reflist 1930 births Heads of state of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic Heads of the Communist Party of Latvia Latvian engineers Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Living people People from Dobele Municipality University of Latvia alumni