Archbishop John (, , secular name Jānis Pommers or Ivan Andreyevich Pommer, ; 6 (18) January 1876 – 29 September (12 October) 1934) was the first Latvian Archbishop of the

Latvian Orthodox Church The Latvian Orthodox Church () is an Eastern Orthodox church in Latvia, part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodoxy community. The Primate (bishop), primate of the church carries the title of ''Metropolitan of Riga and all Latvia ...

, serving from 1921 to his assassination in 1934, and a saint of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, and also called the Greek Orthodox Church or simply the Orthodox Church, is List of Christian denominations by number of members, one of the three major doctrinal and ...

. He was also involved in politics, and was the leader of the Party of the Orthodox.Vincent E McHale (1983) ''Political parties of Europe'', Greenwood Press, pp459–460

Biography

Since his great-grandfather his family were Latvian converts to Orthodoxy, which was hoped to help any fears Orthodoxy was too Russian in orientation. He proved significant to the Church and gained its recognition in 1926. He was elected to 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 p ...

in the 1925 elections on the Party of the Orthodox list, and was re-elected in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

, serving as an MP from 1925 to 1934. This involved some controversy as the Left feared he was

Monarchist Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. C ...

while Russian monarchists feared he was a Latvian nationalist. The

's Order of the Saint Martyr Archbishop of Riga and Latvia John (Janis Pommers) is named for him.President of Latvia receives the Order of Janis Pommers from the Metropolitan of the Orthodox Church of Riga and Latvia in Riga Orthodox Cathedral of the Birth of Christ On the Second Day of Easter, 9 April, 2007
president.lv

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1876 births 1934 deaths People from Madona Municipality People from Cēsis county Latvian bishops Latvian Orthodox Church Eastern Orthodox saints Eastern Orthodox Christians from Latvia 20th-century Eastern Orthodox archbishops Party of the Orthodox politicians Deputies of the 2nd Saeima Deputies of the 3rd Saeima Deputies of the 4th Saeima {{Latvia-politician-stub