Arveds Bergs

Arveds Bergs, full name Arveds Kārlis Kristaps Bergs, (born September 13, 1875 Riga, Russian Empire – died December 19, 1941, Chkalov, Soviet Union) was a Latvian lawyer, newspaper editor and politician actively advocating establishing of an independent Latvian state and later, as the leader of National Union, member of Saeima. Minister of Interior between December 9, 1919 and June 18, 1921 in the Latvian Provisional Government. After the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Bergs was arrested and deported to a prison camp where he died.

His father, Kristaps Bergs, was a self-made businessman and property developer in Riga. Arveds attended Riga City Gymnasium (1888-1892) and went to study law at Dorpat University (1892-1896) where he joined Lettonia fraternity. After graduation, he went on to work in St. Petersburg. In 1900 returned to Riga, where parallel to his work as a lawyer, Bergs soon began publishing editorials in his father's newspaper Baltijas Vēstnesis (The Baltic Messenger) and became active in Riga Latvian Society and its Latvian Encyclopedia for which he wrote some articles. In 1904 Bergs purchased a printing house.

During the 1905 Russian Revolution Bergs used the short period of liberalization to establish the Latvian Democratic Party together with Augusts Deglavs and Gustavs Zemgals. On July 25, 1907 he was exiled from Russian Empire proper to the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland for his political activities. Bergs used this time to absorb nationalist and independence ideas from more advanced Finns and to travel to Germany and Switzerland, where he saw different models of democracy. In Switzerland he befriended Latvian poet and politician Rainis. In autumn of 1908 Bergs was allowed to return to Riga, where he concentrated on his work as editor and undertook more travelling to Middle East and Egypt.

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