This is a list of prominent Latvians with Wikipedia articles. It includes:
- persons who were born in the historical territory of what is now Latvia, regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, or time period; and
- persons of Latvian descent regardless of their place of birth or citizenship.
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A
- Augusts Vilis Abakuks (1914–1994) - a leader of the British Latvian community in exile
- Rutanya Alda(1942) - actress (Mommy Dearest, Deer Hunter)
- Viktors Alksnis (1950) - Soviet military officer and Russian communist politician known as "the Black Colonel"
- Iveta Apkalna (1976) - organist
- Fricis Apšenieks (1894-1941) - chess player
- Vija Artmane (1929-2008) - actress
- Gunārs Astra (1931-1988) - dissident, fighter for human rights
- Auseklis see Miķelis Krogzems
B
- Helmuts Balderis (1952) - ice hockey player, forward
- Jānis Balodis (1881-1965) - army officer and politician
- Jānis Balodis (1950) - Latvian/Australian playwright
- Krišjānis Barons (1835-1923) - “the father of Latvian folk songs”, who compiled and edited the first publication of Latvian folk-song texts “Latvju Dainas” (1894-1915)
- Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948) - ballet-dancer
- Kārlis Baumanis (1835-1905) - composer, author of the national anthem of the Republic of Latvia "Dievs, svētī Latviju!" (God bless Latvia!)
- Vizma Belševica (1931-2005) - author, candidate for Nobel Prize in Literature
- Eduards Berklavs (1914-2004) - politician, leader of Latvian national-communists
- Krišjānis Berķis (1884-1942) - general
- Isaiah Berlin (1909-1997) - philosopher
- Eduard Berzin (1894-1938) - soldier in the Red Army, later Head of Dalstroy, the Kolyma forced-labour camps in North-Eastern Siberia
- Isaac Janis Porter Berzins (1990 - ) winner of 2009s music PEI award of Indie Pop Recording of the Year, for New Royalty's "Sleepover EP"
- Karlis Betinš (1867-1943) - chess player
- Andris Biedriņš (1986) - basketball player, Golden State Warriors
- Gunnar Birkerts (1925) - architect
- Ernests Blanks (1894–1972) - Latvian publicist, writer, historian, the first to publicly advocate for Latvia's independence
- Rūdolfs Blaumanis (1863-1908) - writer and playwright
- Himans Blūms (1913) - painter
- Inguna Butane, Latvian fashion model.
C
- Valters Caps (1905-2003) - designed first Minox 8 x 11 photocameras
- Gustavs Celmiņš (1899–1968) – fascist politician, leader of Pērkonkrusts movement
- Vija Celmins (1938) - American painter born in Latvia
Č
- Aleksandrs Čaks (1901-1950) - poet
- Jānis Čakste (1859-1927) - first Latvian president
D
- Roberts Dambītis (1881-1957) - general and politician
- Jānis Dāliņš (1904-1978) - athlete, race walker
- Emīls Dārziņš (1875-1910) - composer
- Jacob Davis (1834-1908) - inventor of denim
- Johans Aleksandrs Heinrihs Klapje de Kolongs (1839-1901) - naval engineer
- Elijās Eliezers Desslers (1892-1953) - Orthodox rabbi, Talmudic scholar, and Jewish philosopher
- Leor Dimant (1972) - Turntabilist and member of the rock group Limp Bizkit
- Anatols Dinbergs (1911-1993) - diplomat
- Aleksis Dreimanis (1914) - geologist
- Inga Drozdova (1975) - model and actress
E
- Mihails Eizenšteins (1867-1921) - architect
- Sergejs Eizenšteins (1898–1948) - film director
- Modris Eksteins (1943) - Canadian historian and world-famous writer
- Andrievs Ezergailis (1930) - historian of the Holocaust
F
- Movsas Feigins (1908-1950) - chess player
- Gregors Fitelbergs (1879-1953) - conductor, composer and violinist
- Vesel fon Freitags-Loringhofens (1899-1944) - colonel and member of the German resistance against German dictator Adolf Hitler
- Sandra Freiberga (1961) - journalist and TV personality
- Laila Freivalds (1942) - former Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs
G
- Inese Galante (1954) - opera singer (soprano)
- Gints Gabrāns (1970) - artist
- Elīna Garanča (1976) - opera singer (mezzo-soprano)
- Kārlis Goppers (1876-1941) - general, founder of Latvian Boy Scouts
- Andrejs Grants (1955) - photographer
- Ernests Gulbis (1988) - Latvian professional tennis player
- Natalie Gulbis (1983) - Latvian-descent LPGA golfer
Ģ
- Uldis Ģērmanis (1915-1997) - historian, under the alias of Ulafs Jāņsons a social commentator
- Aivars Ģipslis (1937-2000) - chess player
H
- Morris Halle (1923) - linguist
- Philippe Halsman (1906-1979) - Latvian/American photographer
- Juris Hartmanis (1928) - computer scientist, Turing Award winner
- Uvis Helmanis - basketball player
I
- Artūrs Irbe (1967) - ice hockey player (NHL), goalkeeper
- Karlis Irbitis (1904 - 1997) - aviation inventor, engineer, designer
J
- Gatis Jahovičs - basketball player
- Andrejs Jansons (1938) - musician, composer, conductor
- Mariss Jansons (1943) - conductor
- Inese Jaunzeme (1932) - athlete
K
- Sandra Kalniete (1952) - politician, diplomat, former Latvia's EU commissioner
- Bruno Kalniņš (1899-1990) - Saeima member, Red Army General
- Imants Kalniņš (1941) - composer, politician
- Oskars Kalpaks (1882-1919) - colonel, first Commander of Latvian National Armed Forces
- Kaspars Kambala (1978) - basketball player
- Renārs Kaupers (1974) - musician
- Jēkabs Ketlers (1610-1682) - Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia
- Gustavs Klucis (1895-1938) - painter and graphic designer
- Mike Knuble (1972) - ice hockey player NHL, forward
- Aleksandrs Koblencs (1916-1993) - chess player
- Ābrams Izāks Kūks (1864-1935) - chief rabbi, Jewish thinker, statesman, diplomat, mediator and a renowned scholar
- Aleksandrs Kovalevskis (1840-1901) - zoologist
- Gidon Kremer (1947) - violinist and conductor
- Miķelis Krogzems (1850-1879) - poet, author and translator of German poets
- Juris Kronbergs (1946) - poet, writer, free-lance journalist, translator
- Atis Kronvalds (1837-1875) - teacher and journalist, reformed the Latvian language, organized the first Latvian Song and Dance Festival
- Dainis Kūla (1959) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
- Alberts Kviesis (1881-1944) - president
L
- Aleksandrs Laime (1911-1994) - explorer
- Vilis Lācis (1904-1966) - author and politician
- Ed Leedskalnin (1887-1951) - builder of Coral Castle in Florida, claimed to have discovered the ancient magnetic levitation secrets used to construct the Egyptian pyramids.
- Jēkabs Mihaels Reinholds Lenc (1751-1792) - author
- Marija Leiko (1887-1937) - actress
- Alexander Liepa (1919-2000) - inventor, artist
- Maris Liepa (1936-1989) - ballet-dancer
- Nikolajs Loskijs (1870-1965) - philosopher
- Jānis Lūsis (1939) - athlete
Ļ
- Jevgēnija Ļisicina (1942) - organist
M
- Maris Martinsons (1960) - professor of strategic management, international business consultant
- Hermanis Matisons (1894-1932) - chess player
- Zenta Mauriņa (1897-1978) - writer, literary scholar, culture philosopher
- Juris Māters (1845-1884) - author, lawyer and journalist, translated laws to Latvian and created the foundation for Latvian law
- Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics (1887-1925) - first Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs
- Leo Mihelsons (1887-1978) - artist
- Arnolds Mikelsons (1922-1984) - artist
- Evgenijs Millers (1867-1938) - czarist Russian general
- Kārlis Mīlenbahs (1853-1916) - linguist
N
- Arkadij Naiditsch (1985) - chess player, now resident in Germany
- Marija Naumova (1973) - variety singer, winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2002 under her stage name Marie N
- Andris Nelsons (1978) - conductor of CBSO
- Andrievs Niedra (1871-1941) - pastor, writer, prime minister of German puppet government (1919)
- Aron Nimzowitsch (1886-1935) - influential chess player
- Fred Norris (1955) - Radio personality
O
- Stanislavs Olijars (1979) - athlete (European champion in 110m Hurdles)
- Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932) - received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1909 for his work on catalysis, chemical equilibria and reaction velocities
- Elvīra Ozoliņa (1939) - athlete (Olympic gold medal in javelin)
- Sandis Ozoliņš (1972) - ice hockey player (NHL), defense
- Valdemārs Ozoliņš (1896-1973) - composer, conductor
P
- Artis Pabriks (1966) - Minister of Foreign Affairs (2007–2007)
- Karlis Padegs (1911-1940) - Graphic artist, painter
- Marian Pahars (1976) - soccer player for Southampton FC, and part of Latvia's national team
- Raimonds Pauls (1936) - popular composer, widely known in Russia
- Jānis Pauļuks (painter) - painter
- Lucia Peka (1912-1991) - Artist of the Latvian Diaspora
- Jekabs Peters (1886-1938) - revolutionary and Soviet Cheka leader
- Brita Petersone - American model
- Kaspars Petrovs (1978) - serial killer
- Vladimirs Petrovs (1907-1943) - chess player
- Andris Piebalgs (1957) - politician, diplomat, European Commissioner for Energy
- Jānis Pliekšāns, 1865-1929) - distinguished Latvian writer, author of a number of poetry collections
- Juris Podnieks (1950-1992) - film director, producer
- Nicolai Poliakovs (1900-1974) - Coco the Clown
- Sandis Prūsis (1965) - athlete, bobsleigh
- Andrejs Pumpurs (1841-1901) - poet, author of Latvian national epic Lāčplēsis
- Jānis Pujāts (1930) - Roman Catholic cardinal
R
- Einars Repše (1961) - politician
- Lolita Ritmanis (1962, Portland) - orchestrator, composer
- Fricis Rokpelnis (1909-1969) - author
- Mark Rothko (1903-1970) - abstract expressionist painter
- Elza Rozenberga (1865-1943) - poet, playwright, married to Jānis Pliekšāns
- Juris Rubenis (1961) - famous Lutheran pastor
- Mārtiņš Rubenis (1978) - sportsman, bronze medalist at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin
- Brunis Rubess (1926) - businessman
- Inta Ruka (1958) - photographer
- Tania Russof (1974) - pornographic actress
S
- Uļjana Semjonova (1952) - tallest female basketball player in the Olympic history, 3-time World Champion
- Kārlis Skalbe (1879-1945) - poet
- Baiba Skride (1981) - violinist
- Eduards Smiļģis (1886 -1966) - theatre director, founder of Dailes Theatre
- Konstantin Sokolsky (1904-1991) - romance and tango singer
- Raimonds Staprans (1926) - Latvian/American painter
- Johann Steinhauer (1705-1779) - Latvian Industrialist, Entrepreneur, and Civil Rights Activist.
- Lina Stern (1878-1968) - biologist and social activist
- Henrijs Stolovs (1901-1971) - stamp dealer
- Jānis Streičs (1936) - film director, screenwriter, actor
- Maris Strombergs - BMX cyclist, gold medal winner at 2008 Olympics
- Pēteris Stučka (1865-1932) - author, translator, editor, jurist and educator
- Evgeny Sveshnikov (1950) - prominent chess player
- Stanislavs Svianievičs (1899-1997) - economist and historian
Š
- Viktors Ščerbatihs (1974) - athlete, weightlifter
- Pauls Šīmanis (1876-1944) - Baltic German journalist, politician, activist defending and preserving European minority cultures
- Aleksejs Širovs (1972) - one of the top chess grandmasters in the world today.
- Andris Šķēle (1958) - politician, Prime Minister of Latvia
- Armands Šķēle - basketball player
- Ernests Štālbergs (1883-1958) - architect, ensemble of the Freedom Monument
- Isāks Nahmans Šteinbergs (1888-1957) - politician, lawyer and author
- Vestards Šimkus (1984) - pianist
T
- Mihails Tāls (1936-1992) - the 8th World Chess Champion
- Kārlis Augusts Tenisons (1873 - 1962) - known also as Vahindra; 1st Buddhist priest in Latvia and Estonia
- Jānis Roberts Tilbergs (1880-1972) - painter, sculptor
- Aloizs Tumiņš (1938-2008) - boxer, European champion 1961
U
- Guntis Ulmanis (1939) - president
- Kārlis Ulmanis (1877-1942) - prime minister
- Jūris Upatnieks (1936-) -physicist, co-inventor of three-dimensional holography
V
- Romāns Vainšteins (1973) - former pro cyclist, World Road Champion in 2000
- Krišjānis Valdemārs (1825-1891) - public figure, writer, publicist and economist
- Pauls Valdens (1863-1957) - chemist
- Miķelis Valters (1874-1968) - state official, journalist, diplomat
- Valdis Valters - one of the best European basketball players ever, playmaker
- Aleksandrs Vanags (1918-1986) - footballer
- Jānis Vanags (1958-) - Lutheran archbishop
- Jūlijs Vanags (1903-1984) - author and translator
- Alex Vanags-Baginskis (1927) - aviation author/editor
- Pēteris Vasks (1946) - contemporary composer
- Jukums Vācietis (1873-1938) - first commander of the Soviet Army
- Ojārs Vācietis (1933-1983) - poet
- Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - poet and translator
- Makss Veinreihs (1893-1969) - linguist
- Ed Viesturs (1959) - one of the world's premier high-altitude mountaineers. He is one of only 18 people to have climbed all eight-thousander peaks.
- Igors Vihrovs (1978) - gymnast, gold medalist at Sydney Olympics in 2000.
- Edvarts Virza (1883-1940)- famous Latvian writer
- Alvis Vitolinš (1946-1997) - chess master
- Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (1937) - former president
- Jāzeps Vītols (1863-1948) - composer
- Eduards Veidenbaums (1867-1892) - Latvian poet.
- Māris Verpakovskis (1979) - footballer, FC Dynamo Kyiv
- Aleksandrs Voitkevičs (1963-2006) - chess player
Z
- Kārlis Zāle (1888-1942) - sculptor, author of the Freedom Monument in Riga
- Friedrich Zander (1887-1933) - pioneer of rocketry and spaceflight
- Juris Zarins (1945-) - archaeologist and professor at Missouri State University
- Kārlis Zariņš (Charles Zarine) (1879-1963) - diplomat
- Rihards Zariņš (1869-1939) - graphic artist
- Valdis Zatlers (1955) - president
- Elmars Zemgalis (1923) - chess player
- Gustavs Zemgals (1871-1939) - president
- Imants Zemzaris (1951) - contemporary composer
- Valdis Zeps (1932-1996) - author and linguist, pseudonym Jānis Turbads
- Imants Ziedonis (1933 -) - Latvian poet and folklorist
Ž
- Sergejs Žoltoks (1972-2004) - ice hockey player (NHL), forward
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