Quick Facts
Biography
Hugo Celmiņš (30 October 1877, Lubāna – 30 July 1941, Moscow) was a Latvian politician. held the office of Prime Minister of Latvia from 19 December 1924 – 23 December 1925 and 1 December 1928 – 26 March 1931.
Early life
Celmiņš studied economics at the Polytechnic Institute of Riga from 1899 to 1903, where he joined the student corporation Talavija in the 1900s. During 1903-1904 he completed a degree in mathematics at the University of Bern. After research trips and study visits in Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland, he worked as an economist. During the First World War he served as a volunteer in the army.
Career
After the independence of Latvia on 18 November 1918, Celmiņš became Deputy of the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia and then the First Saeima, where he represented the Latvian Farmers' Union. On 12 June 1920, he was appointed by Prime Minister Kārlis Ulmanis as a Minister of Agriculture, an office he held until 18 June 1921.
On 19 December 1924, Celmiņš succeeded Voldemārs Zāmuēls as the Prime Minister. Until December 23, 1925, he took over the Cabinet. Until March 5, 1925, he was Minister for Agriculture. He was Foreign Minister from August 22 until the end of his tenure, after the previous incumbent Meierovics was killed in a car accident.
On 1 December 1928, he again served as Prime Minister, succeeding Pēteris Juraševskis. His term continued until 26 March 1931 and was part of the longest government of the pre-war Republic of Latvia. From 4 February 1930 to the end of his reign he held the foreign minister portfolio. On March 27, 1931 he was succeeded by Ulmanis.
Celmiņš was the first mayor of Riga, and from 1935-1938 he was the Latvian envoy to Nazi Germany. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, he was arrested and deported to the Soviet Union, where he was shot on July 30, 1941.