Sarmīte Ēlerte (born 8 April 1957) is a Latvian politician who is a member of the

Unity Unity is the state of being as one (either literally or figuratively). It may also refer to: Buildings * Unity Building, Oregon, Illinois, US; a historic building * Unity Building (Chicago), Illinois, US; a skyscraper * Unity Buildings, Liverpoo ...

party. She was Minister of Culture of Latvia from 3 November 2010 until 25 October 2011.

Early life

Ēlerte was born on 8 April 1957, in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Also known as the Latvian SSR, or Latvia) was a Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republic of the Soviet Union from 1940 to 1941, and then from 1944 until 1990. The Soviet occupation of the Bal ...

. She graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of the

University of Latvia University of Latvia (, shortened ''LU'') is a public research university located in Riga, Latvia. The university was established in 1919. History The University of Latvia, initially named as the Higher School of Latvia () was founded on Se ...

in 1980. In 1983-1988 she studied film critics at the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. From 1978 to 1988 she worked as a journalist for the magazine "Literatūra un Māksla".

Political career

In 1988 she joined the

Popular Front of Latvia The Popular Front of Latvia () was a political organisation in Latvia in the late 1980s and early 1990s which led Latvia to its independence from the Soviet Union. It was similar to the Popular Front of Estonia and the Sąjūdis movement in Li ...

where she organized the information department. After the victory of the Front in the 1990 election she was the director of the Information Centre of the

Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia The Supreme Council of the Republic of Latvia (Latvian: Latvijas Republikas Augstākā Padome) was the transitional parliament of Latvia from 1990 to 1993, after the restoration of independence. The Supreme Council was elected on 1990 as the S ...

. She served this function until 1991. In 1990 she was appointed chief of the newly created "

Diena ''Diena'' (''The Day'') is a Latvian language national daily newspaper in Latvia, published since 23 November 1990. It is one of Latvia's largest daily periodicals and used to be considered as a paper of record. History The newspaper was ...

" newspaper and two years later she became the newspaper's head editor. She held this position until 2008. She was a head of the Latvian branch of the

Soros Foundation Open Society Foundations (OSF), formerly the Open Society Institute, is an American grantmaking network founded by business magnate George Soros. Open Society Foundations financially supports civil society groups around the world, with the st ...

in 1997–2006. In 2007 Ēlerte became a founding member of the

European Council on Foreign Relations The European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) is a pan-European think tank with offices in seven European capitals. Launched in October 2007, it conducts research on European foreign and security policy and provides a meeting space for decis ...

, which included, among others

Mart Laar Mart Laar (born 22 April 1960) is an Estonian politician and historian. He served as the Prime Minister of Estonia from 1992 to 1994 and from 1999 to 2002. Laar is credited with having helped bring about Estonia's Economy_of_Estonia#Restoration_o ...

Martti Ahtisaari Martti Oiva Kalevi Ahtisaari (, 23 June 1937 – 16 October 2023) was a Finnish politician, the tenth president of Finland, from 1994 to 2000, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and a United Nations diplomat and mediation, mediator noted for his inte ...

Joschka Fischer Joseph Martin "Joschka" Fischer (born 12 April 1948) is a German former politician of the Alliance 90/The Greens party. He served as the foreign minister and as the vice chancellor of Germany in the cabinet of Gerhard Schröder from 1998 to 200 ...

and

George Soros George Soros (born György Schwartz; August 12, 1930) is an American investor and philanthropist. , he has a net worth of US$7.2 billion, Note that this site is updated daily. having donated more than $32 billion to the Open Society Foundat ...

. She is a head of the Baltic to Black Sea Alliance. Until 2009 she is a chair of National Council for Culture. In 2007, along with

Sandra Kalniete Sandra Kalniete (born 22 December 1952) is a Latvian politician, author, diplomat and independence movement leader. She served as Foreign Minister of Latvia 2002–2004 and as European Commissioner for Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisherie ...

she was the initiator of the so-called ''Umbrella revolution'' (''Lietussargu Revolucija'') directed against the oligarchy and the ruling class. In 2010 she was engaged in a process of consolidation of the Latvian center-right forces. In March 2010, she founded the Association for Progressive Change them.

Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (, Durbe – 22 August 1925, near Tukums) was a Latvian politician and diplomat who served as the first Foreign Minister of Latvia from its independence until 1924 and again from December of the same year until his dea ...

. In the elections of 2010 she established the electoral platform of " Unity" in

Semigallia Semigallia is one of the Historical Latvian Lands located to the south of the Daugava and to the north of the Saule region of Samogitia. The territory is split between Latvia and Lithuania, previously inhabited by the Semigallian Baltic tri ...

from which she was elected to the

Saeima The Saeima () is the parliament of the Latvia, Republic of Latvia. It is a unicameral parliament consisting of 100 members who are elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated to political parties which gain at least 5% of the p ...

(Latvian Parliament). On November 3, 2010, she was appointed as the minister of culture in the second government of

Valdis Dombrovskis Valdis Dombrovskis (; born 5 August 1971) is a Latvian politician serving as Executive Vice President of the European Commission for An Economy that Works for People since 2019 and European Commissioner for Trade since 2020. He previously serv ...

. She held this position until October 25, 2011. She lost in the 2011 election to the Saeima. She was advisor to Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis. On November 26, 2012, she was nominated a candidate for the office of mayor of

by the Unity party.''«Vienotības» Rīgas mēra kandidāte būs Ēlerte''
apollo.lv z 26.11.2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Elerte, Sarmite 1957 births Living people Politicians from Riga Civic Union (Latvia) politicians New Unity politicians Ministers of culture of Latvia Deputies of the 10th Saeima Women government ministers of Latvia Women deputies of the Saeima University of Latvia alumni 21st-century Latvian women politicians