List of Latvians

This is a list of prominent Latvians. It includes:
* persons who were born in the historical territory of what is now Latvia, regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, or time period; and
* persons of Latvian descent regardless of their place of birth or citizenship.

A

* Augusts Vilis Abakuks (1914–1994) - a leader of the British Latvian community in exile
* Dace Akmentiņa (1858-1936) - actress
* Jānis Akurāters (1876-1937) - writer
* Ieva Akurātere (1951) - singer/songwriter
* Rutanya Alda, born Rutanya Skrastiņa (1942) - actress ("Mommy Dearest", "Deer Hunter")
* Viktors Alksnis (1950) - Soviet military officer and Russian communist politician known as "the Black Colonel"
* Ādolfs Alunāns (1848-1912) - actor, playwright
* Edgars Andersons (Edgar Anderson, 1920-1989) - historian
* Jānis Anmanis (1943) - painter
* Augusts Annus (1893-1984) - painter
* Jānis Annus - painter
* Anna Annus-Hāgena - artist, educator, curator
* Iveta Apkalna (1976) - organist
* Fricis Apšenieks (1894-1941) - chess player
* Vija Artmane (1929) - actress
* Aspazija "see Elza Rozenberga"
* Gunārs Astra (1931-1988) - dissident, fighter for human rights
* Auseklis "see Miķelis Krogzems"

B

* Helmuts Balderis (1952) - ice hockey player, forward
* Jānis Balodis (1881-1965) - army officer and politician
* Jānis Balodis (1950) - Australian playwright
* Krišjānis Barons (1835-1923) - “the father of Latvian folk songs”, who compiled and edited the first publication of Latvian folk-song texts “Latvju Dainas” (1894-1915)
* Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948) - ballet-dancer
* Jānis Fridrihs Baumanis (1834-1891) - architect
* Kārlis Baumanis (1835-1905) - composer, author of the national anthem of the Republic of Latvia "Dievs, svētī Latviju!" (God bless Latvia!)
* Oskars Aleksandrs Bārs (1848-1914) - architect
* Vizma Belševica (1931-2005) - author, candidate for Nobel Prize in Literature
* Eduards Berklavs (1914-2004) - politician, leader of Latvian national-communists
* Krišjānis Berķis (1884-1942) - general
* Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) - philosopher
* Eduard Berzin (1894-1938) - soldier in the Red Army, later Head of Dalstroy, the Kolyma forced-labour camps in North-Eastern Siberia
* Lilita Bērziņa (1903-1983) - actress
* Isaac Berzins (1990-) - musician
* Kaspars Bērziņš - basketball player
* Karlis Betinš (1867-1943) - chess player
* Andris Biedriņš (1986) - basketball player, Golden State Warriors
* Gunnar Birkerts (1925) - architect
* Bernhards Bīlensteins (1877-1959) - architect
* Alfreds Bīlmanis (1887-1948) - politician, diplomat, historian
* Vilhelms Bokslafs (1858-1945) - architect
* Ernests Blanks (1894–1972) - Latvian publicist, writer, historian, the first to publicly advocate for Latvia's independence
* Rūdolfs Blaumanis (1863-1908) - writer and playwright
* Himans Blūms (1913) - painter
* Jānis Blūms - basketball player
* Mikelis Bukšs - Latgalian ethnographer and linguist
* Arvīds Blūmentals - "Crocodile Harry", a man living in a cave
* Calia Brencsons-Van Dyk (1966) - actress, producer, playwright
* Fridrihs Briedis (1885-1918) - colonel in first world war
* Mikhail Aleksandrovitch (1914-2002) - singer and cantor
* Ginters Buss (1983-present) - economist

C

* Valters Caps (1905-2003) - designed first Minox 8 x 11 photocameras
* Gustavs Celmiņš (1899–1968) – fascist politician, leader of Pērkonkrusts movement
* Vija Celmins (1938) - American painter born in Latvia
* Jānis Ciaguns (1951) - downhill skier
* Jānis Cimze (1814-1881) - composer, pedagogue

Č

* Aleksandrs Čaks (1901-1950) - poet
* Jānis Čakste (1859-1927) - first Latvian president
* Konstantīns Čakste (1901-1945) - lawyer and politician
* Mintauts Čakste - jurist, author, served in Supreme Court Senate of the Republic of Latvia

D

* Roberts Dambītis (1881-1957) - general and politician
* Jānis Dāliņš (1904-1978) - athlete, race walker
* Emīls Dārziņš (1875-1910) - composer
* Jacob Davis (1834-1908) - inventor of denim
* Ivans de Kolongs (1839-1901) - naval engineer
* Augusts Deglavs (1862-1922) - writer
* Elijās Eliezers Desslers (1892-1953) - Orthodox Jewish rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher
* Leor Dimant (1972) - Turntabilist and member of the rock group Limp Bizkit
* Anatols Dinbergs (1911-1993) - diplomat
* Rūdolfs Filips Donbergs (1864-1918) - architect
* John Dored (1881-1954) - legendary cameraman, world reporter of Paramount
* Aleksis Dreimanis (1914) - geologist
* Inga Drozdova (1975) - model and actress
* Uldis Dumpis (1943) - actor
* Egons Dunens (1945) - inventor
* Eriks Dunens (1983) - Famous Minneapolis Hipster
* Edgars Dunsdorfs (1904-2002) - historian, publicist and economist

E

* Andrejs Eglītis (1912-2006) - famous Latvian poet and patriot
* Kārlis Eihenbaums (1961) - diplomat
* Mihails Eizenšteins (1867-1921) - architect
* Sergejs Eizenšteins (1898–1948) - film director
* Modris Eksteins (1943) - Canadian historian and world-famous writer
* Peteris Elferts (1961) - parliamentary secretary, diplomat
* Indulis Emsis (1952) - politician
* Andrievs (Andrew) Ezergailis (1930) - historian of the Holocaust

F

* Movsas Feigins (1908-1950) - chess player
* Julijs Feldmans (1889-1953) - diplomat
* Johans Daniels Felsko (1813-1902) - architect
* Kārlis Felsko (1844-1918) - architect
* Gregors Fitelbergs (1879-1953) - conductor, composer and violinist
* Vesel fon Freitags-Loringhofens (1899-1944) - colonel and member of the German resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler
* Edmunds Fon Trompovsky (1851-1919) - architect
* Sandra Freiberga (1961) - journalist and TV personality
* Laila Freivalds (1942) - Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Edgars Voldemārs Frīzendorfs (1881-1945) - architect
* Eižens Finks (1886-1958) - oracle
* Olga Frolova (1975-----) - idealist and subverter

G

* Inese Galante (1954) - opera singer (soprano)
* Gints Gabrāns (1970) - artist
* Elīna Garanča (1976) - opera singer (mezzo-soprano)
* Jānis Garančs (1973) - multimedia artist, researcher
* Lūcija Garūta (1902-1977) - composer
* Kārlis Goppers (1876-1941) - general, founder of Latvian Boy Scouts
* Raitis Grafs - basketball player
* Andrejs Grants (1955) - photographer
* Austris Grasis (1942) - linguist, ethnographer
* Aleksandrs Grīns (1895-1941) - writer
* Ernests Gulbis (1988) - Latvian professional tennis player
* Natalie Gulbis (1983) - Latvian-descent LPGA golfer

Ģ

* Uldis Ģērmanis (1915-1997) - historian, under the alias of Dr. Ulafs Jāņsons a social commentator
* Aivars Ģipslis (1937-2000) - chess player

H

* Morris Halle (1923) - linguist
* Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) - Latvian/American photographer
* Juris Hartmanis (1928) - computer scientist, Turing Award winner
* Uvis Helmanis - basketball player
* Alvis Hermanis (1965) - actor/stage director

I

* Artūrs Irbe (1967) - ice hockey player (NHL), goalkeeper
* Karlis Irbitis (1904, Latvia - 1997, Canada) - aviation inventor, engineer, designer
* Aleksandrs Isakovs (1973) - soccer player

J

* Gatis Jahovičs - basketball player
* Kristaps Janičenoks - basketball player
* Mariss Jansons (1943) - conductor
* Jānis Jaunsudrabiņš (1877-1962) - writer and painter
* Inese Jaunzeme (1932) - athlete
* Andryvs Jūrdžs (1845-1925) - pioneer of Latgalian literature
* Ieva Jansone (1978) - English teacher at Riga Secondary Evening (shift) school of Rainis

K

* Zelig Hirš Kalmanovič (1885-1944) - philologist, translator, historian, and community archivist
* Sandra Kalniete (1952) - politician, diplomat, former Latvia's EU commissioner
* Bruno Kalniņš (1899-1990) - Saeima member, Red Army General
* Imants Kalniņš (1941) - composer, politician
* Oskars Kalpaks (1882-1919) - colonel, first Commander of Latvian National Armed Forces
* Kaspars Kambala (1978) - basketball player, now pro boxer
* Renārs Kaupers (1974) - musician
* Jēkabs Ketlers (1610-1682) - Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
* Jānis Klīdzējs (1914-2000) - writer
* Gustavs Klucis (1895-1938) - painter and graphic designer
* Mike Knuble (1972) - ice hockey player NHL, forward
* Aleksandrs Koblencs (1916-1993) - chess player
* Ābrams Izāks Kūks (1864-1935) - chief rabbi, Jewish thinker, statesman, diplomat, mediator and a renowned scholar
* Maija Kovaļevska (1979) - opera singer (soprano)
* Aleksandrs Kovalevskis (1840-1901) - zoologist
* Gidon Kremer (1947) - violinist and conductor
* Miķelis Krogzems (1850-1879) - poet, author and translator of German poets
* Bruno Kronbergs (1990) - student, actor, charity worker and philanthropist, sound engineer
* Juris Kronbergs (1946) - poet, writer, free-lance journalist, translator
* Atis Kronvalds (1837-1875) - teacher and journalist, reformed the Latvian language, organized the first Latvian Song and Dance Festival
* Dainis Kūla (1959) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
* Alberts Kviesis (1881-1944) - president
* Jānis Krievkalns (1979) - TV producer, teacher at Adazi Valdorf school

L

* Aleksandrs Laime (1911-1994) - explorer
* Eižens Laube (1880, Riga - 1967, Portland) - architect
* Vilis Lācis (1904-1966) - author and politician
* Ed Leedskalnin (1887-1951) - builder of Coral Castle in Florida, claimed to have discovered the ancient magnetic levitation secrets used to construct the Egyptian pyramids.
* Jēkabs Mihaels Reinholds Lenc (1751-1792) - author
* Marija Leiko (1887-1937) - actress
* Eizens Leimanis (1905-1992) - mathematician
* Ludolfs Liberts (1895-1959) - painter/production designer
* Alexander Liepa (1919-2000) - inventor, artist
* Inga Liepa (1978) - Secretary of State
* Yolanda Liepa - Latvian/American pianist
* Maris Liepa (1936-1989) - ballet-dancer
* Lidija Liepiņa (1901, Riga -1992, Los Angeles) - actress
* Edgars Liepiņš (1928-1995) - actor
* Gvīdo Linga - rock musician
* Nikolajs Loskijs (1870-1965) - philosopher
* Pēteris Lūcis (1907-1991) - actor
* Jānis Lūsis (1939) - athlete

Ļ

* Jevgēnija Ļisicina (1942) - organist

M

* Maris Martinsons (1960) - professor of strategic management, international business consultant
* Māris Martinsons (1960) - film director
* Hermanis Matisons (1894-1932) - chess player
* Zenta Mauriņa (1897-1978) - writer, literary scholar, culture philosopher
* Juris Māters (1845-1884) - author, lawyer and journalist, translated laws to Latvian and created the foundation for Latvian law
* Jānis Mediņš (1890-1966) - composer, conductor
* Haralds Mednis (1906-2000) - conductor
* Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887-1925) - first Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Leo Mihelsons (1887-1978) - artist
* Kārlis Miesnieks (1887-1977) - Latvian painter
* Pīters Miglinīks (1852-1883) - Latgalian poet and fighter for social justice
* Arnolds Mikelsons (1922-1984) - artist
* Wilhelm Mikhailovsky (1942) - photographer
* Evgenijs Millers (1867-1938) - czarist Russian general
* Augusts Mitrēvics (1898, Latvia - 1964, Los Angeles) - actor
* Kārlis Mīlenbahs (1853-1916) - linguist
* Vilis Mikelsons ( 1918 ) - journalist
* Edgars Mikelsons (1958 ) - artist

N

* Arkadij Naiditsch (1985) - prolific chess player, now resident in Germany
* Marija Naumova (1973) - variety singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 under her stage name Marie N
* Vilhelms Neimanis (1849-1919) - architect
* Andris Nelsons (1978) - conductor of CBSO
* Andrievs Niedra (1871-1941) - pastor, writer, prime minister of German puppet government (1919)
* Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) - influential chess player
* Valters Nollendorfs (1931) - Educator, Deputy Director for Development, The Occupation Museum,Riga, Latvia
* Fred Norris (1955) - Radio Personality

O

* Stanislavs Olijars (1979) - athlete (European champion in 110m Hurdles)
* Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) - received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities
* Elvīra Ozoliņa (1939) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
* Arturs Ozoliņš (1946) - pianist
* Sandis Ozoliņš (1972) - ice hockey player (NHL), defense
* Valdemārs Ozoliņš (1896-1973) - composer, conductor

P

* Artis Pabriks (1966) - Minister of Foreign Affairs
* Karlis Padegs (1911-1940, Riga) Graphic artist, painter
* Marian Pahars (1976) - soccer player for Southampton FC, and part of Latvia's national team
* Raimonds Pauls (1936) - popular composer, widely known in Russia
* Jānis Pauļuks - painter
* Eduards Pāvuls (1929-2006) - actor
* Lucia Peka (1912-1991) - Artist of the Latvian Diaspora
* Rudolfs Frederiks Peksens (1944) - Briagdier General, US Air Force
* Konstantīns Pēkšēns (1859-1928) - architect
* Jānis Pēpis (1909-1937) - painter and graphic artist
* Jānis Peters (1939) - poet, politician, diplomat
* Jekabs Peters (1886-1938) - revolutionary and Soviet Cheka leader
* Brita Petersone - American model
* Lukas Petersons (1979) - Latvian Beer Drinking Champion (2001, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2007)
* Kaspars Petrovs (1978) - serial killer
* Vladimirs Petrovs (1907-1943) - chess player
* Andris Piebalgs (1957) - politician, diplomat, European Commissioner for Energy
* Jānis Pliekšāns, 1865-1929) - distinguished Latvian writer, author of a number of poetry collections
* Juris Podnieks (1950-1992) - film director, producer
* Nicolai Poliakovs (1900-1974) - Coco the Clown
* Jānis Porziņģis - basketball player
* Gunārs Priede (1928-2000) - playwright
* Jelena Prokopčuka (1976) - winner of the 2005 and 2006 ING
* Sandis Prūsis (1965) - athlete, bobsleigh
* Andrejs Pumpurs (1841-1901) - poet, author of Latvian national epic "Lāčplēsis"
* Jānis Pujāts (1930) - Roman Catholic cardinal
* Dainis Pīlācis (1980) - boyfriend of the English teacher

R

* Alek Racenis (1987) - American-Latvian pioneer currently residing in Agno, Switzerland. Catskill mountain and Swiss alps adventurer.
* Elza Radziņa (1917-2005) - actress
* Jānis Rapa - publisher
* Rainis "see Jānis Pliekšāns"
* Dr. Konstantīns Raudive (1919-1974) - writer, parapsychologist; claimed to discover means of communicating with souls in the afterlife, the "Raudive voices".
* Augusts Reinbergs (1860-1908) - architect
* Einars Repše (1961) - politician
* Lolita Ritmanis (1962, Portland) - orchestrator, composer
* Andris Ritmanis - physician, author
* Brigita Ritmanis - songwriter
* Fricis Rokpelnis (1909-1969) - author
* Mark Rothko (1903-1970) - abstract expressionist painter
* Jānis Roze - publisher
* Elza Rozenberga (1865-1943) - poet, playwright, married to Jānis Pliekšāns
* Jānis Rozentāls (1866-1917) - painter
* Juris Rubenis (1961) - famous Lutheran pastor
* Mārtiņš Rubenis (1978) - sportsman, bronze medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
* Brunis Rubess (1926) - businessman
* Inta Ruka (1958) - photographer
* Augusts Rumpēters (1899-1978) - jurist, served in Supreme Court Senate of the Republic of Latvia
* Tania Russof (1974) - pornographic actress

* Sasha Siemel (Aleksandrs Ziemelis, 1890 Riga - 1970 Pennsylvania) - Tiger-man; considered by many to be the greatest hunter that ever lived.
* Voldemārs Salnais (1886-1948) - diplomat, statistician
* Augusts Saulietis (1869-1933) - poet, writer and teacher
* Kārlis Sebris (1914) - actor
* Uļjana Semjonova (1952) - tallest female basketball player in the Olympic history, 3-time World Champion
* Egīls Siliņš - opera singer (basso)
* Dāvids Sīmonsons (1882-1919) - general, first Commander-in-Chief of Latvian Army
* Kārlis Skalbe (1879-1945) - poet
* Baiba Skride (1981) - violinist
* Lauma Skride (1982) - pianist
* Linda Skride (1978) - viola player
* Jurģis Skulme (1928) - artist
* Vilis Skultāns (1914-1990) - journalist, historian
* Eduards Smiļģis (1886-1966) - theatre director, actor
* Konstantin Sokolsky (1904-1991) - romance and tango singer
* Arnolds Spekke (1887-1972) - historian, diplomat
* Raimonds Staprans (1926) - Latvian/American painter
* Lina Stern (1878-1968) - biologist and social activist
* Jānis Stībelis - singer
* Henrijs Stolovs (1901-1971) - stamp dealer
* Jānis Stradiņš - scientist
* Pauls Stradiņš - physician
* Jānis Streičs (1936) - film director, screenwriter, actor
* Maris Strombergs - BMX cyclist, gold medal winner at 2008 Olympics
* Pēteris Stučka (1865-1932) - author, translator, editor, jurist and educator
* Olafs Stumbrs (1931-1996) - poet, educator
* Jānis Sudrabkalns (1894-1975) - poet
* Evgeny Sveshnikov (1950) - prominent chess player
* Stanislavs Svianievičs (1899-1997) - economist and historian

Š

* Viktors Ščerbatihs (1974) - athlete, weightlifter
* Heinrihs Kārlis Šēls (1829-1909) - architect
* Pauls Šīmanis (1876-1944) - Baltic German journalist, politician, activist defending and preserving European minority cultures
* Aleksejs Širovs (1972) - one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today.
* Andris Šķēle (1958) - politician, Prime Minister of Latvia
* Armands Šķēle - basketball player
* Aleksandrs Šmēlings (1877-1961) - architect
* Reinholds Georgs Šmēlings (1840-1917) - architect
* Ernests Štālbergs (1883-1958) - architect, ensemble of the Freedom Monument
* Isāks Nahmans Šteinbergs (1888-1957) - politician, lawyer and author

T

* Mihails Tāls (1936-1992) - the 8th World Chess Champion
* Karlis Tenisons (1873-1962) - buddhist priest, Ambassador of Dalailama in Soviet Russia, then of Tibet in all Baltic states
* Jānis Roberts Tilbergs (1880-1972) - painter, sculptor

U

* Guntis Ulmanis (1939) - president
* Kārlis Ulmanis (1877-1942) - prime minister
* Juris Upatnieks - inventor of first hologram

V

* Romāns Vainšteins (1973) - former pro cyclist, World Road Champion in 2000
* Raimonds Vaikulis - basketball player
* Julian Vaivods - Roman Catholic cardinal of Latvia
* Māris Valainis (1963) - actor, ("Hoosiers," and "Casualties of War")
* Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825-1891) - public figure, writer, publicist and economist
* Pauls Valdens (1863-1957) - chemist
* Ēvalds Valters (1894-1994) - actor
* Miķelis Valters (1874-1968) - state official, journalist, diplomat
* Sandis Valters - basketball player
* Valdis Valters - one of the best European basketball players ever, playmaker
* Aleksandrs Vanags (1873-1919) - architect
* Aleksandrs Vanags (1918-1986) - footballer
* Gustavs Vanags (1891-1965) - chemist
* Jānis Vanags (1958-) - Lutheran archbishop
* Jūlijs Vanags (1903-1984) - author and translator
* Alex Vanags-Baginskis (1927) - aviation author/editor
* Pēteris Vasks (1946) - contemporary composer
* Jukums Vācietis (1873-1938) - first commander of the Soviet Army
* Ojārs Vācietis (1933-1983) - poet
* Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - poet and translator
* Makss Veinreihs (1893-1969) - linguist
* Pāvels Veselovs - basketball player
* Sigismunds Vidbergs (1890, Jelgava - 1970, New Jersey) - graphic artist
* Sigurds Vidzirkste (1928-1974) - graphic and painter
* Igors Vihrovs (1978) - gymnast, gold medalist at Sydney Olympics in 2000.
* Edvarts Virza (1883-1940)- famous Latvian writer
* Alvis Vitolinš (1946-1997) - chess master
* Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (1937) - former president
* Jāzeps Vītols (1863-1948) - composer
* Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - Latvian poet.
* Māris Verpakovskis (1979) - footballer, FC Dynamo Kyiv
* Aleksandrs Voitkevičs (1963-2006) - chess player
* Elina Volkmane (1982) - opera singer

Z

* Kārlis Zāle (1888-1942) - sculptor, author of the Freedom Monument in Riga
* Vilnis Zaļkalns (1947-2002) - journalist and publisher
* Friedrich Zander (1887-1933) - pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight
* Guntis Zariņš (1926-1965) - author
* Kārlis Zariņš (Charles Zarine) (1879-1963) - diplomat
* Rihards Zariņš (1869-1939) - graphic artist
* Valdis Zatlers (1955) - president
* Kārlis Zemdega (1894-1963) - sculptor
* Elmars Zemgalis (1923) - chess player
* Gustavs Zemgals (1871-1939) - president
* Imants Zemzaris (1951) - contemporary composer
* Valdis Zeps (1932-1996) - author and linguist, pseudonym Jānis Turbads
* Gustavs Zemgals (1871-1939) - president
* Imants Ziedonis (1933 -) - Latvian poet and folklorist
* Reinis Zusters (1918) - Latvian/Australian painter

Ž

* Sergejs Žoltoks (1972-2004) - ice hockey player (NHL), forward

ee also

* List of North European Jews
* Prime Minister of Latvia