Ints Cālītis (5 March 1931 – 1 July 2023) was a Latvian politician and political prisoner.

Biography

Ints Cālītis was first arrested in 1949, when he was 17 years old and still in school, accused of having created an "anti-Soviet underground organization". He was sentenced to 25 years in a camp near

Magadan Magadan ( rus, Магадан, p=məɡɐˈdan) is a Port of Magadan, port types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative centre of Magadan Oblast, Russia. The city is located on the isthmus of the Staritsky Peninsula by the ...

in the far east of Russia. Following the amnesty after

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's death, he was eventually able to return to Latvia in 1956. In 1958 he was arrested for the second time, accused of "writing anti-Soviet letters" and trying to regroup his former underground organization. He was sentenced to six years in the correctional labour camp of

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 ...

, from which he returned to Latvia in 1964.Ints Cālītis
Latvijas Valsts arhīvs. These experiences did not stop him from engaging in dissident activities. In 1977 he collaborated with Viktors Kalniņš and Estonian and Lithuanian dissidents to try to create the "Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian National Movement Main Committee". In 1979 he signed the

Baltic Appeal The Baltic Appeal (, or ''Baltiešu memorands'', ) was a public letter to the secretary-general of the United Nations, Soviet Union, East and West Germany, and signatories of the Atlantic Charter by 45 Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian citizens. S ...

. In 1981 he signed an open letter asking to turn Northern Europe into a nuclear-free zone. Having been warned by the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

, he was once again arrested in 1983 and sentenced to six years in prison. This arrest was part of a crackdown on Dievturība, Latvia's

Baltic neopaganism Baltic neopaganism is a category of autochthonous religious movements which have revitalised within the Baltic people (primarily Lithuanians and Latvians).Wiench 1995 These movements trace their origins back to the 19th century and they were sup ...

, which Cālītis was an adherent of. The Soviet authorities viewed the interest in

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

and ancient traditions as a cloak for

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

and anti-Soviet sympathies, and accused Cālītis of

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

activities. Cālītis was released from prison in 1986 and became active in the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia () was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Li ...

. In 1990 he was elected into the

Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republikas Augstākā Padome) was the transitional parliament of Latvia from 1990 to 1993, after the restoration of independence. The Supreme Council was elected on 1990 as the S ...

. He was one of the voters in favor of the restoration of Latvia's independence on 4 May 1990. In 2000 he was awarded the

Order of the Three Stars Order of the Three Stars () 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 "Through hardships towards the ...

of the third class. Cālītis died on 1 July 2023, at the age of 92.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calitis, Ints 1931 births 2023 deaths Politicians from Riga Latvian modern pagans Popular Front of Latvia politicians Deputies of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia Soviet dissidents Latvian prisoners and detainees Soviet prisoners and detainees Soviet anti–nuclear weapons activists Latvian dissidents Political prisoners in former countries Latvian people imprisoned in the Soviet Union