Vaira Paegle (July 6, 1942 – June 14, 2019) was a

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 ...

n politician. She was a Deputy of 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 ...

and a member of the People's Party, later of the Civic Union.

Biography

Paegle was born 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 ...

, Latvia during the

Nazi 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 ...

. In 1944, she and her family left Latvia and spent the next seven years in

Displaced Persons camps Displaced may refer to: * Forced displacement, the involuntary movement of people from their home * Displaced (2006 film), ''Displaced'' (2006 film), a 2006 British feature film produced by Skylandian Pictures * Displaced (2010 film), ''Displaced ...

in the

British Zone Germany was already de facto military occupation, occupied by the Allies of World War II, Allies from the real German Instrument of Surrender, fall of Nazi Germany in World War II on 8 May 1945 to the establishment of the East Germany on 7 Octo ...

, Germany. In 1951, she and her family immigrated to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, living in

Concord, New Hampshire Concord () is the capital city of the U.S. state of New Hampshire and the seat of Merrimack County. As of the 2020 census the population was 43,976, making it the third largest city in New Hampshire behind Manchester and Nashua. The village of ...

. Paegle graduated from

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

in 1964 with a Bachelor of Arts and received her master's degree from the

University of New Hampshire The University of New Hampshire (UNH) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It was founded and incorporated in 1866 as a land grant college in Hanover in connection with Dartmouth College, mo ...

. She married Viesturs Paegle in 1968 and the couple moved to Connecticut. She became active in public service. Paegle worked for the Connecticut Department of Social Services until she retired in 1997. She was also the first woman president of the World Federation of Free Latvians. She joined the People's Party in Latvia and began to run in Parliamentary elections. Paegle served for three terms and was elected Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and later the Chair of the European Affairs Committee. Paegle also founded the Women's Caucus in the Latvian Parliament. In 1998, she was a candidate for the People's Party in the Latvian elections. She joined the People's Party in Latvia and began to run in Parliamentary elections. Paegle served for three terms and was elected Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee and later the Chair of the European Affairs Committee. Paegle also founded the Women's Caucus in the Latvian Parliament. In 1998, she was a candidate for the People's Party in the Latvian elections.

References

1942 births 2019 deaths Politicians from Riga People's Party (Latvia) politicians Civic Union (Latvia) politicians Deputies of the 7th Saeima Deputies of the 8th Saeima Deputies of the 9th Saeima Candidates for President of Latvia Women deputies of the Saeima 20th-century Latvian women politicians 21st-century Latvian women politicians Latvian World War II refugees Latvian emigrants to the United States {{Latvia-politician-stub