Arvīds Brēdermanis (10 October 1900 – 22 February 1970) was an official of the

foreign service Foreign Service may refer to: * Diplomatic service, the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country * United States Foreign Service, the diplomatic service of the United States government **Foreign Service ...

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

between the World Wars, and was also a founder of the Latvian Scouting movement.

Early years

Brēdermanis was born in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

in 1900. His father, Kārlis, was a civil servant. Brēdermanis attended

Vilis Olavs Vilis Olavs (born ''Vilis Plute''; 18 May 1867 – 29 March 1917) was a Latvian political theorist, writer, and humanitarian who participated in the First Latvian National Awakening of the 19th century. Biography Vilis Olavs was born as Vili ...

' Commercial School and the Riga City

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the occupation of much of Latvia by the German Army, his family evacuated as refugees to other parts of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1919, Brēdermanis finished his secondary education in

Barnaul Barnaul (, ) is the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and administrative centre of Altai Krai, Russia, located at the confluence of the Barnaulka and Ob (river), Ob rivers in the West Siberian Plain. As of the Russian Censu ...

, and prepared to

matriculate Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term ''matriculation'' is seldom used now ...

Tomsk University The National Research Tomsk State University, TSU () is a public research university located in Tomsk, Russia. The university, which opened in 1888, was the first university in the Asian part of Russia and, in practice, the first Russian unive ...

. Instead, however, he was mobilised into

Aleksandr Kolchak List of Russian admirals, Admiral Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak (; – 7 February 1920) was a Russian navy officer and Arctic exploration, polar explorer who led the White movement in the Russian Civil War. As he assumed the title of Supreme Ru ...

's anti-

Bolshevik The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

army in Siberia. He later transferred to the Latvian volunteer Imanta Regiment and also served the French military mission in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

. He eventually returned to Latvia along with the Imanta Regiment, and served in the Latvian Army for a year, until demobilisation in January 1920.

Pioneering role in Latvian Scouting

Latvian Scouting began during World War I, when many of Riga's schools had been evacuated to Dorpat (

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

in present-day

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

) as the Russian–German front lines approached Riga. In Tartu, three

Scout troop A Scout troop is a term adopted into use with Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and the Scout Movement to describe their basic units. The term troop echoes a group of mounted scouts in the military or an expedition and follows the terms cavalry, mounted i ...

s—the 5th, 6th, and 7th Dorpat Troops—were formed completely or primarily of Latvian boys from evacuated Riga schools. These were the first ever Latvian Scouts. Brēdermanis was the leader of the 6th Troop, founded 26 September 1916. Most of these first troops proved short lived, however, disbanding already when the schoolboys left the town for their holidays. In April 1917, many of the former Latvian Scouts from Dorpat/Tartu were back in Riga for

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

holidays. K. Perešs, former leader of the 5th Troop, placed an appeal in the daily newspaper '' Jaunākās Ziņas'' on 8 April 1917, for the boys from Tartu to meet up and found a

Scout Group A Scout group is a local organization used in some Scout organizations that groups a Scout troop or unit with other age programs, separate gender-based Scout troops and/or multiple Scout troops. A Scout group that groups Scouts with programs fo ...

in Riga. As a result, a new troop (officially known as the 92nd Russian Troop) was founded on 17 April 1917, with Perešs as Scout Leader and Brēdermanis as Patrol Leader. The troop numbered some 120 Scouts, about half of them Latvian boys. On 3 August 1917, about 50 Latvian Scouts founded a separate 5th Riga Troop under Brēdermanis' leadership. This troop's activity was interrupted when the German Army occupied Riga, and the German military authorities arrested them as if they were military cadets. Following his evacuation as a refugee to

Samara Samara, formerly known as Kuybyshev (1935–1991), is the largest city and administrative centre of Samara Oblast in Russia. The city is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Samara (Volga), Samara rivers, with a population of over 1.14 ...

in the Russian interior, Brēdermanis tried unsuccessfully to revive the activity of the 5th Riga Troop.

Foreign service career

After his military service, Brēdermanis took up studies in economics at the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

in Riga. In parallel, he began working in the

Foreign Ministry In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

, where he made a career for himself in the foreign service. Aside from various ministry posts, he served abroad in Latvia's diplomatic missions in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

(1923–24) and in

Kaunas Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaun ...

(1930–33), then the provisional capital of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. He left the foreign service to work as a journalist for the Latvian Telegraph Agency from 1935 to 1939. From 1938 to 1939, he studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

, again at the University of Latvia. From 1939 until the Soviet occupation of Latvia in mid-1940, he worked as press secretary for the Japanese Embassy in Riga.

Persecution and later life under the Soviets

After the loss of Latvia's independence in 1940, the Soviet authorities arrested Brēdermanis as a Japanese spy. In August 1940, he was sentenced to 8 years' imprisonment in the

Gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

, which he spent in labor camps in

Mordovia Mordovia ( ),; Moksha language, Moksha and officially the Republic of Mordovia,; ; is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, situated in Eastern Europe. Its capital city, capital is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of S ...

. In 1948 his sentence was changed to 15 years' imprisonment. He was released and returned to the

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

in 1955. Eventually he was able to settle in Riga. For the rest of his working life he was employed as an accountant at state enterprises. He died in Riga on 22 February 1970 and was buried in the Riga Forest Cemetery.

References

External links

* http://www.mfa.gov.lv/lv/Ministrija/vesture/4439/4446/ * http://www.lv.lv/index.php?menu_body=DOC&id=32701&menu_left=LAIDIENS&PHPSESSID=7d82f444214d94ced3226de5f31e3c {{DEFAULTSORT:Bredermanis, Arvids 1900 births 1970 deaths Scouting pioneers Diplomats from Riga Scouting and Guiding in Latvia University of Latvia alumni Burials at Forest Cemetery, Riga