Opening of the Book on Women in Latvian Politics

Autumn 2022 marked 100 years since the first 1922 Saeima (Parliament) elections in Latvia, the outcome of which came as a surprise. Unlike the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (1920–1922), in which six women deputies worked, the following Saeima was a parliament without women for almost ten years. Only in the 4th Saeima (1931)—the last one before the coup d'état carried out by Kārlis Ulmanis in 1934—did the first woman become a MP: the experienced and popular politician Berta Pīpiņa.

The study of historian Ineta Lipša published by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Baltic States seeks an answer to the question why women were not elected to the Saeima for so long, as well as looking at the election of politically and socially active women to the Saeima and municipalities elections, their chosen political strategies and tactics, analyses the candidates' results and activities in everyday life in interwar Latvia.

The book reflects women's persistent interest in politics, their efforts to become its full participants and shows why the principle of the flexible lists used in the elections at that time became the most visible obstacle to achieving this goal.

Design of the Book: Alexey Murashko
Photos of the Event: Toms Zariņš, FES Baltic States