Ulmanis, Karlis

Ulmanis, Karlis

(born , Sept. 4, 1877, Berze, Latvia, Russian Empire—died 1942) Latvian independence leader and premier of Latvia (1918, 1919–21, 1925–26, 1931–32, 1934–40). An agronomist, he worked to improve farming in Latvia while becoming active in the Latvian independence movement. In 1905 he was forced into exile to the U.S., where he taught agriculture at the University of Nebraska until 1913. Returning to Latvia, he founded the Latvian Farmers' Union (1917) to press for independence from Russia. In 1918 he became premier of the newly independent republic. In his various terms of office he worked to resist internal dissension—instituting authoritarian rule in 1934—and military threats from Russia. Soviet occupation forced his resignation in 1940, and he was arrested and deported to Russia, where he died.