Pauls Kalniņš (3 March 1872, in Vilce Parish – 26 August 1945, in

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Luste ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

) was a Latvian physician and politician ( LSDSP), a long-term

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 ...

, one of the signatories of the Memorandum of the

Central Council of Latvia Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center (disambiguation), center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa ...

in 17 March 1944, and was the

Acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor or actress who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad r ...

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 ...

(1927, 1944–1945).

Personal life

Pauls Kalniņš was born on 3 March 1872 (from other sources – 3 April) at the Vilce Parish "Mazpečuļos" as a farmer's son. After graduating from the local parish school, he studied at

Liepāja Gymnasium Liepāja Nicolai Gymnasium was a six-year (later seven) gymnasium (school), gymnasium (high school) in Liepāja (Libau), Courland Governorate, Russian Empire. It was established in 1865 on the basis of a school that traced its roots to 1848. The ...

, where he met such later statesmen such as

Miķelis Valters Miķelis Valters (born May 7, 1874, April 24 O.S., died March 25, 1968) was the first Latvian Minister of the Interior (1918—1919), member of the New Current intellectual movement, lawyer, politician, diplomat, social activist, and one of the ...

and Jānis Jansons-Brauns. He graduated from the gymnasium in 1892 and went to study natural sciences at

Moscow University M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (MSU; russian: Московский государственный университет имени М. В. Ломоносова) is a public research university in Moscow, Russia and the most prestigious ...

, but later moved to the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; et, Tartu Ülikool; la, Universitas Tartuensis) is a university in the city of Tartu in Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is the only classical university in the country, and also its biggest ...

, where he studied medicine, obtaining a

medical degree A medical degree is a professional degree admitted to those who have passed coursework in the fields of medicine and/or surgery from an accredited medical school. Obtaining a degree in medicine allows for the recipient to continue on into special ...

as a

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

in 1898. He met his wife, Klāra Kalniņa, in 1895, and married her three years after.

Political career

As a member of the Pīkalkalonia, in 1897, he was arrested together with other members of the

New Current The New Current ( lv, Jaunā strāva) in the history of Latvia was a broad leftist social and political movement that followed the First Latvian National Awakening (led by the Young Latvians from the 1850s to the 1880s) and culminated in the 1905 ...

and deported from

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 ...

until 1901. The deportation was accompanied by

Žagarė Žagarė (, see also other names) is a city located in the Joniškis district, northern Lithuania, close to the border with Latvia. It has a population of about 2,000, down from 14,000 in 1914, when it was the 7th largest city in Lithuania. Žag ...

. After returning to

, he became a prominent member of the

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

, a participant in the

1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...

, and was a collaborator in the editorial staff of Cīņa and Neatkarīgā Cīņa (now

Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze ''Neatkarīgā Rīta Avīze'' (Independent Morning Newspaper) is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published in Riga. Since 5 May 2020, it is only published online, with the last print edition coming out on 30 April 2020. Th ...

). He joined the non-

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

direction of social democracy. He became a Chairman of the LSDSP Central Committee (1918–1924), a member of the People's Council, a member of the

Constitutional Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...

and a member of all the first free state

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 ...

, as a Chairman of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Saeima. According to K. Ulmanis, he spent 4 months in prison after the coup. According to the

Constitution of Latvia The Constitution of Latvia ( lv, Satversme) is the fundamental law of the Republic of Latvia. Satversme is the oldest Eastern or Central European constitution still in force and the sixth oldest still-functioning republican basic law in the ...

, as the last

, he was the acting president until his death. For this and other reasons, during the

German occupation German-occupied Europe refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly occupied and civil-occupied (including puppet governments) by the military forces and the government of Nazi Germany at various times between 1939 an ...

, Kalniņš was one of the founders of the

Latvian Central Council The Latvian Central Council (LCC, lv, Latvijas Centrālā Padome, LCP) was the pro-independence Latvian resistance movement during World War II from 1943 onwards. The LCC consisted of members from across the spectrum of former leading Latvian po ...

. Kalniņš ran in the Latvian presidential elections of 1930 and 1933. On both occasions, he lost to

Alberts Kviesis Alberts Kviesis (22 December 1881, in Tērvete Parish – 9 August 1944, in Riga) was a Latvian politician and the third President of Latvia. Alberts Kviesis was born in Kalnamuiža (Tērvete) parish (now Dobele Municipality) in the Courland G ...

. Kalniņš received 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 ...

1st (1927) and 2nd Class (1926). At the meeting of the

on 8 September 1944, Kalniņš signed a declaration on the restoration of the Latvian state: "On the basis of the Satversme of the Republic of Latvia (Article 52), the position of the last President of the Saeima has passed to me as the last legally elected Speaker of the Saeima. On this day, I took up the position of the President until the election of a new President in accordance with the procedure provided for in the Satversme. ."

Death

In 1944 he emigrated. He died on 26 August 1945 in the village of Becava near Lustenava, in the Allied occupied Austria. He was survived by his wife Klāra Kalniņa and son

Brūno Kalniņš Brūno (also: Bruno) Haralds Kalniņš (7 May 1899, in Tukums, Courland Governorate of the Russian Empire, now Latvia 26 March 1990, in Stockholm, Sweden) was a Latvian social democratic politician and historian. He was the son of prominent ...

, who were also notable employees of the Social Democrats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalnins, Pauls 1872 births 1945 deaths People from Jelgava Municipality People from Courland Governorate Latvian Social Democratic Workers' Party politicians Presidents of Latvia Speakers of the Saeima Members of the People's Council of Latvia Deputies of the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia Deputies of the 1st Saeima Deputies of the 2nd Saeima Deputies of the 3rd Saeima Deputies of the 4th Saeima Latvian physicians University of Tartu alumni Recipients of the Order of the Three Stars Latvian World War II refugees Latvian expatriates in Austria