| |
|
|
from the issue of September 13, 2007
|
| |
|
|
| |
From the Archives - Karlis Ulmanis
On Sept. 4, members of the United Latvian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Lincoln placed a bouquet of flowers by the bust of Karlis Ulmanis in Love Library. The flowers commemorate the 130th birthday of Ulmanis, a 1909 University of Nebraska graduate who became the first prime minister of an independent Latvia and president of Latvia (1936-1940).
| |
| | | Karlis Ulmanis (left) holds a University of Nebraska pennant with an unidentified man. Ulmanis, the first prime minister and president of an independent Latvia, graduated from the university in 1909.
|
Born Sept. 4, 1877 on the family farm in the Russian province of Zemgale, Ulmanis was the youngest of three children. He was the only child to leave the farm as his two older brothers were left in charge of the farm after their father's unexpected death in 1883.
Following the completion of local schooling, Ulmanis attended an experimental dairy school in 1896 in what is now Gvardejsk. He returned home one year later.
Ulmanis returned to school in 1902 and graduated with a certificate of maturity from the Agricultural Institute in Leipzig, Germany.
By 1905, Ulmanis had returned home and was involved in the revolutionary movement. He was active in the 1905 revolution, spending six months in Pshkov State Prison after writing an inflammatory article against Tsar Nicholas. After his release, Ulmanis continued his political activities, eventually fleeing into exile in Germany.
Ulmanis opted to come to America, mainly due to the influence of family friends who worked on Sen. Charles Warner's wheat farm in Waverly, Neb. He enrolled at NU with the rank of senior, graduating spring 1909 with a degree in agriculture and animal husbandry.
Ulmanis bounced around jobs after graduation - including a stint as a professor of dairy and cheese making at NU. He decided to return to his homeland after Tsar Nicholas issued a 1913 declaration of amnesty for those involved in the 1905 revolution.
In 1918, Latvia earned a first taste of independence and Ulmanis, as leader of the Farmer's Union, was elected as his country's first prime minister. Like many fledgling democratic governments, Latvia's government was unstable and faced near constant turnover. Between 1918 and 1934, Ulmanis was the head of seven of the more than 20 cabinets.
On the eve of May 16, 1934, Ulmanis took over in a bloodless coup d'etat. He strengthened his position in 1936, combining the positions of president and prime minister. Ulmanis served as Latvia's president/prime minister until July 1940, when the Soviets invaded Latvia as agreed upon in the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.
Ulmanis was deported to Russia and imprisoned at Krasnovodsk. He is believed to have died there in 1942. Ulmanis' remains have never been found.
"From the Archives" is a regular feature of the Scarlet. Images were provided by the University Archives. Submit items to tfedderson2@unl.edu or 472-8515.
GO TO: ISSUE OF SEPTEMBER 13
HISTORY HEADLINES FOR SEPTEMBER 13
From the Archives - Karlis Ulmanis
732932S37257X
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
