On Monday, June 13, the book “Valstsvīrs Voldemārs Roberts Zāmuels” (Statesman Voldemārs Roberts Zāmuels) by professor of historical sciences Eriks Jēkabsons was opened in Garkalne. One of the facets of Zāmuels’ versatile personality was jurisprudence – he was one of the first five senators of the Latvian Senate in 1918 and the first Chief Prosecutor of the Senate.

Voldemārs Zāmuels was one of the most prominent statesmen of Latvia at the beginnings of the Latvian state. He was the Head of the Latvian Provisional National Council, member of the Constitutional Assembly, the eighth Prime Minister of Latvia, also the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Justice. In the introduction to the book, the author writes: "For Voldemārs Zāmuels, fate and his own extraordinary determination, abilities, patriotism, and activity had destined him to become one of the most prominent statesmen of the Republic of Latvia and one of the leaders of the national government, whose activity occupies a definite and known place in the history of the country and nation. In addition, in 1917-1918, it was Voldemārs Zāmuels who led the Latvian Provisional National Council, which was the first to organize the movement towards the declaration of Latvia’s independence, thus the historical role of Voldemārs Zāmuels grows even bigger." Ēriks Jēkabsons has studied the stages and peculiarities of Voldemārs Zāmuels’ activity, his path to leading statesman and lawyer positions, which allows to significantly add to the picture not only of Zāmuels’ personality, but also of important turning points and the overall picture of the Latvian history. When writing about Zāmuels’ tenure in the Senate, a broad insight into the judicial system of the new Latvian state is also provided.

The book was published with the financial support of the Valka region and the Garkalne region. In Zāmuels’ biography, Valka is associated with the time of the Latvian Provisional National Council, but in Ropaži he once bought a piece of land and built a summer cottage. It was the initiative of the Garkalne history researcher Brigita Taučkele that was the biggest driving force behind the creation of this book of historical significance. Whereas, she got her inspiration for the study of Zāmuels’ personality at the Supreme Court Museum. The book includes both photographs and information from the collection of the Supreme Court Museum.

 

Information prepared by

Rasma Zvejniece, the Head of the Division of Communication of the Supreme Court

E-mail: rasma.zvejniece@at.gov.lv, telephone: +371 67020396, +371 28652211