Otto Rudolfovich Latsis ( lv, Otto Lācis, russian: Отто Рудольфович Лацис; 22 June 1934 – 3 November 2005) was a

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

, of

Latvian descent The Latvian diaspora refers to Latvians and people of Latvian descent residing outside Latvia. According to estimates by the Latvian Foreign Ministry, as at 2012, about 370,000 Latvian citizens permanently resided outside of Latvia, most of t ...

Journalist career

After graduating from Moscow State University in 1956, Otto Latsis began working in a local newspaper, "''Soviet

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

''". His subsequent work at the newspaper "Экономическая Газета" (''The Economic Gazette''), began build Latsis' reputation as a prominent journalist. At the end of the

Khrushchev Thaw The Khrushchev Thaw ( rus, хрущёвская о́ттепель, r=khrushchovskaya ottepel, p=xrʊˈɕːɵfskəjə ˈotʲ:ɪpʲɪlʲ or simply ''ottepel'')William Taubman, Khrushchev: The Man and His Era, London: Free Press, 2004 is the period ...

, he worked at Izvestia, where he advocated for the loosening of censorship and sought to make the newspaper popular among the

intelligentsia The intelligentsia is a status class composed of the university-educated people of a society who engage in the complex mental labours by which they critique, shape, and lead in the politics, policies, and culture of their society; as such, the in ...

. His liberal views proved unpopular with authorities. Latsis was sent into a so-called "

exile Exile is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons and peoples suf ...

of honour", that is, to work in a place where he would not have a platform to spread his ideas. He worked in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

for a magazine called "Problems of Peace and

Socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

", later at the

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 ...

Institute of the Economy of the World Social System. From 1987 to 1991 he returned to occupy an important position in the Soviet magazine "Communist"in theory, a magazine intended to be a vehicle for promulgating communist

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, but which under Latsis spread the idea of

perestroika ''Perestroika'' (; russian: links=no, перестройка, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg) was a political movement for reform within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s widely associated wit ...

. After 1991, he returned to work at Izvestia. In 1997, because of a conflict with its new management, he left it to found his own newspaper, " New Izvestia." He subsequently moved to "

Russkii Kurier Russkiy Kurier (russian: Русский курьер, translated as ''Russian Courier'') was a Moscow-based daily newspaper. History It was founded in 2003 by Igor Golembiovsky, a journalist who had left ''Novye Izvestiya'' after being dismisse ...

," and lastly, to "

Moskovskiye Novosti ''Moskovskiye Novosti'' (russian: Московские новости, ''Moscow News'') was a Russian-language daily newspaper in Russia relaunched in 2011. The paper - by then a 'youth-oriented' free sheet handed out at more than 850 places aro ...

." Latsis also wrote and presented papers at academic symposia.

Activities not related to journalism

* Under

Mikhail Gorbachev Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev (2 March 1931 – 30 August 2022) was a Soviet politician who served as the 8th and final leader of the Soviet Union from 1985 to dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country's dissolution in 1991. He served a ...

, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. * Under

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...

, he was one of his advice councilors. * He was a member of the jury of the award "For Journalism as Deed" (За журналистику как поступок). * He was a member of the public commission investigating Russian apartment bombings.

Death

On September 10. 2005, while Otto Latsis was driving his

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

and turning left at a crossroad, a jeep crashed into his car at a high speed. Otto Latsis and his grandson, as well as the woman who was driving the jeep and her two children, were hospitalized for treatment. Latsis lingered in a coma for more than one and a half months, but finally succumbed to his injuries. He died at 5 AM MSK on November 3, 2005, in

Burdenko Nikolay Nilovich Burdenko (russian: Николай Нилович Бурденко; – 11 November 1946) was a Russian Empire and Soviet surgeon, the founder of Russian neurosurgery. He was Surgeon-General of the Red Army (1937–1946), a ...

hospital in

Opinions on Otto Latsis

{{DEFAULTSORT:Latsis, Otto 1934 births 2005 deaths Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Moscow State University alumni Road incident deaths in Russia Latvian journalists Russian people of Latvian descent 20th-century Russian journalists