Emīlija Veinberga (14 December 1896 – 5 September 1989) was a

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 ...

n Communist politician. She served as the Minister of Justice of 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 ...

from 1951 to 1959. She was the first female Minister of Justice in Latvian history, as well as the first woman to be full cabinet minister rather than a deputy minister. Emīlija Veinberga 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 ...

. She was trained as a nurse and worked in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

in Russia during the

First World War 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 ...

. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, she became a party official of the Communist Party. Between 1925 and 1931, she was a party official in

Turkmenistan Turkmenistan is a landlocked country in Central Asia bordered by Kazakhstan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, east and northeast, Afghanistan to the southeast, Iran to the south and southwest and the Caspian Sea to the west. Ash ...

. In 1928, she was appointed Judge for the Ashgabat. She thus became the first female judge in Turkmenistan. She was appointed Deputy Chairman for the High Court of the

in 1941, Deputy Commissioner of Justice in 1945–46, Deputy Minister of Justice in 1945–51, and Minister of Justice in 1951–59.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Veinberga, Emilija 1896 births 1989 deaths Politicians from Riga Ministers of justice of Latvia Women government ministers of Latvia 20th-century Latvian women politicians Latvian communists Female justice ministers Latvian health professionals Soviet judges