Teodors Grīnbergs (2 April 1870 - 14 June 1962) was a Latvian prelate of the

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia (, or LELB) is a Lutheranism, Lutheran Protestant church in Latvia. Latvia's Lutheran heritage dates back to the Protestant Reformation, Reformation. Both the Nazi and communist regimes persecuted the c ...

and its first archbishop from 1932. He was forcibly taken into exile in Germany in 1944. He continued to serve as archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia in exile (later officially known as The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia in Exile, and after that as The Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church Abroad) at which post he served until his death.

Biography

Grīnbergs was born into a family of farmers in Ģibzdes manor in "Mazlejas" (now Valdgale Parish) of Dundaga parish. He studied in

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, Ģibzde,

Talsi Talsi (; , ) (population 11,371) is a town in the Courland region of Latvia. It is the administrative centre of Talsi Municipality. It is nicknamed the "green pearl of Courland". Etymology It is believed that the name is derived from an old Livo ...

and

Jelgava Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...

. From 1891 to 1896 he studied Theology at the

University of Tartu The University of Tartu (UT; ; ) is a public research university located in the city of Tartu, Estonia. It is the national university of Estonia. It is also the largest and oldest university in the country.

. He became a member of the oldest Latvian student corporation Lettonia. From 1899 to 1932 he served as a pastor in Lutrīne and Ventspils. Along with his duties in the church he also worked as a teacher in

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

and even as Chairman of the City Council. In 1929 th
Faculty of Theology
of 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 ...

awarded Grīnbergs an honorary doctorate, and in 1932 he was elected as an external professor. In the same year he was elected Archbishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, the first prelate with this title. His predecessor, Bishop Kārlis Irbe, was known as the bishop in charge of the

. However, due to an ongoing dispute concerning the ownership of the Rīga Dom. which prompted the resignation of his predecessor in 1932, Grīnbergs was not consecrated as Bishop, but rather inducted by his fellow pastors. Archbishop Eidem of Uppsala wished Kārlis Irbe to take part in the consecration that was planned, but he refused. For this reason Archbishop Eidem never performed the consecration. Grīnbergs retained the title of archbishop in 1944 when he went into exile. During his term in office, a new Hymn Book and a new edition of the New Testament were issued. In July 1938, an agreement for

intercommunion Full communion is a communion or relationship of full agreement among different Christian denominations or Christian individuals that share certain essential principles of Christian theology. Views vary among denominations on exactly what constit ...

with the Anglican

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

was achieved . In the second half of 1944, the occupying German authorities exiled the archbishop, along with the leaders of other churches to Germany. Archbishop Grīnbergs continued to lead the church in exile until his death at

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor''; until 16 October 1964 officially '' Eßlingen am Neckar'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the Esslingen (district), Distri ...

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

on 14 June 1962."Teodors Grīnbergs"
''LELB''. Retrieved on 23 December 2017. He was a recipient of 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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grinbergs, Teodors 1870 births 1962 deaths People from Talsi Municipality People from Courland Governorate Latvian Lutheran bishops Lutheran archbishops of Riga Christian National Union (Latvia) politicians Deputies of the 1st Saeima 20th-century Lutheran archbishops