Felikss Cielens papers, 1913-1960

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Summary

Creators:
Cielēns, Fēlikss
Abstract:
Memoirs, writings, correspondence, memoranda, and printed matter, relating to Latvian foreign relations and political conditions.
Extent:
5 manuscript boxes (2.0 Linear Feet)
Language:
Latvian
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Felikss Cielens papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Background

Scope and content:

Acquired in 1966, with increments received in 1979 and 1984, the Felikss Cielens papers in the Hoover Institution Library & Archives comprise a small but comprehensive set of materials relating to the career of an important twentieth-century Latvian political figure. Nearly all of Cielens's extant writings, both literary and political, are to be found in the collection, as are documents pertaining to his tenure as Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs in the 1920s.

Like many Latvians, Cielens was swept up in the turbulent events of the 1905 revolution against Czarist rule in the Russian empire, which then included the Baltic peoples. The failure of the revolution, and the subsequent severe repression by Czarist forces, drove many activists into exile, including Cielens. Although a Social Democrat and an opponent of the Bolsheviks, Cielens came into personal contact with many leading personalities of the Russian revolutionary milieu, including Lenin. His impressions of this time are contained in his memoirs and a lengthy unpublished novel set in the period of the 1917 Russian Revolution and its aftermath; both works are to be found in the SPEECHES AND WRITINGS series.

A strong advocate of Latvian independence, Cielens rose to prominence in the Social Democratic party in the new Latvia of the 1920s, and served as the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs at the end of that decade. The FOREIGN MINISTRY FILE series contains materials relating to Cielens's ministerial activities; there are also press interviews from this time in the INTERVIEWS AND PRESS CONFERENCES series.

During 1933-1934, Cielens served as Latvian Minister to France. There is unfortunately little record of this period in the collection. The emergence of the authoritarian Ulmanis regime in Latvia in the mid-1930s, and the loss of Latvian independence in 1940, effectively ended Cielens's political career within Latvia. Leaving occupied Latvia for Sweden in 1944, Cielens continued to be active both as a writer and as an émigré spokesman. Immediately upon his arrival in Sweden, he wrote a number of reports on the situation in occupied Latvia for the American embassy in Stockholm. These form a separate series in the collection.

Cielens's interests included Latvian literature, and he published a number of studies on the subject, including a short work on Latvian drama that is included among the papers. He wrote prolifically until the end of his life, and the collection assembles the articles he wrote for Latvian émigré publications, principally in Sweden. The majority of the documents in the collection are in Latvian, but there are also materials in French, English, Swedish, and Russian.

Biographical / historical:
Date Event
1888
Born, Latvia
1905
Participates in revolution against Czarist rule
1906-1909
Studies law in St. Petersburg
1910
Emigrates to Paris
1919
Returns to Latvia, and is elected to the Saeima (parliament) as a member of the Latvian Social Democratic Party
1926-1928
Latvian Minister of Foreign Affairs
1933-1934
Latvian Minister to France, Spain, and Portugal
1934-1940
Lives in exile in Paris
1940
Returns to Latvia
1944
Flees occupied Latvia to Sweden
1961-1964
Laikmetu maiņā, memoirs, published in three volumes
1964
Died, Stockholm
Acquisition information:
Acquired.
Physical location:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

The collection is open for research; materials must be requested in advance via our reservation system. If there are audiovisual or digital media material in the collection, they must be reformatted before providing access.

Terms of access:

For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item], Felikss Cielens papers, [Box no., Folder no. or title], Hoover Institution Library & Archives.

Location of this collection:
Hoover Institution Library & Archives, Stanford University
Stanford, CA 94305-6003, US
Contact:
(650) 723-3563
hooverarchives@stanford.edu
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