Jānis Čakste

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Jānis Kristaps Čakste
In office
17 December 1918 – 14 March 1927
Acting: 17 December 1918 – 14 November 1922
Prime MinisterKārlis Ulmanis
Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics
Jānis Pauļuks
Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics
Voldemārs Zāmuēls
Hugo Celmiņš
Kārlis Ulmanis
Arturs Alberings
Marģers Skujenieks
Succeeded byPauls Kalniņš (Acting)
Personal details
Born14 September 1859
Sesava Parish, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire
(now (Viesturi Parish, Bauska Municipality, Latvia)
Died14 March 1927 (aged 67)
Riga, Latvia
Political partyKadets
(1906)
Latvian Farmers' Union
(1917–1919)
Democratic Centre
(1922–1927)

Jānis Kristaps Čakste (14 September 1859 – 14 March 1927) was a Latvian politician and lawyer who served as the first head of an independent Latvian state as the Chairman of the

Constitutional Assembly (1920–1922), and as the first President of Latvia (1922–1927).[1]

Youth

Čakste was born in the Lielsesava (now

Moscow University. While studying in Moscow, Čakste founded a local Latvian Student Society in 1883, which later became the academic fraternity "Austrums"[2] and actively participated in the activities of the local Latvian community along with Krišjānis Valdemārs and Fricis Brīvzemnieks.[2]
Čakste graduated in 1886 and returned to Jelgava.

Career and entry into politics

After graduating from St. Petersburg State University, he worked at the legal department of the

.

Jānis Čakste in 1906

In 1906 he was elected to the First

State Duma of the Russian Empire where he joined the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party. When the latter was dissolved by the czar, Čakste was one of its 166 members who signed the so-called Vyborg Manifesto
, calling for non-violent resistance to the czarist regime. As a result, he was arrested together with other former Duma members and, after the trial, served three months in prison.

In 1915 Čakste moved to

Latvian Rifles.[3] In 1917 Čakste departed for the United States on a tour to propagate the idea of Latvian independence, but the trip was cut short in Stockholm
with the news of the Russian Revolution. In Stockholm he published a pamphlet Die Letten und ihre Latvia: Eine lettische Stimme, where he declared that “the Latvian nation wants to…achieve…its freedom with certainty to lead in Latvia its own national, cultural, and economic development.”

In the autumn of 1917 Čakste worked in the foreign department of the Provisional Latvian National Council, where he prepared addresses to foreign governments protesting against the German occupation of Baltic territories. On 17 November 1918 at the first session of the Latvian

Tautas Padome, conceived as a representative body of the new Latvian state, Čakste was elected its chairman in absentia, as he was at his country home at the time. While informed of his election, he did not manage to arrive in time for the declaration of Latvian independence the next day, and the act was proclaimed by the vice-chairman, Gustavs Zemgals
.

In 1919 Čakste travelled to the

Dr. jur.
honoris causa.

First head of state of an independent Latvia

, who was serving a sentence for treason. However, Čakste also insisted on Niedra's leaving the country after the pardon.

Portrait of Čakste as President

For the presidential elections of 1925, Čakste's name was proposed by his Democratic Centre party, while Rainis was put forward by the Social Democrats and Kārlis Ulmanis – by the Latvian Farmers' Union. In the first round, the incumbent president finished third, with 29 votes, against 33 for Rainis and 32 for Ulmanis. When the Social Democrats decided to withdraw Rainis's candidacy, much against the latter's will, Čakste won the election with 60 votes.

Death

Čakste's Memorial in Forest Cemetery, Riga

Jānis Čakste died in Riga on 14 March 1927 before the expiration of his second three-year term, and was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Riga. He is the only President of Latvia to die in office.[4]

Family

He was married to Justīne Čakste, born Vesere, and they had nine children.[1] His son, Junior Lieutenant Visvaldis Čakste, died from wounds received in the defence of Jelgava in 1915. Another son, Konstantīns Čakste (1901–1945), a lawyer like his father, became one of the leaders of the Latvian national resistance during World War II and the Chairman of the Latvian Central Council, set up in February 1943 as the underground Latvian national government. Konstantīns Čakste was arrested by the Gestapo and died in a forced march from Stutthof concentration camp in February 1945.

References

  1. ^
    OCLC 61227165
    .
  2. ^ a b c d e Švābe, Arveds. Latvijas Encyclopēdija. Trīs Zvaigznes, Stockholm. 1950–1951
  3. ^ Establishment of Latvian Riflemen Battalions in the Summer of 1915[permanent dead link] Tēvijas Sargs accessed 29 March 2009
  4. ^ Jānis Čakste: The First President of Latvia, 1922–1927

External links