List of famous Latvians

List of famous Latvians

• Rainis[?] (real name: Janis Pliek*ans, 1865-1929), the most distinguished Latvian writer of all time who is the author of a number of poetry collections. Rainis is also acknowledged as the "Man of the 20th Century of Latvia".
• Peteris Vasks[?] - contemporary composer
• Raimonds Pauls[?] - popular composer, best known in Russia
• Jukums Vacietis[?] - the first commander of Soviet Army
• Mihails Tals[?] (1936-1992) - the 8th World Champion in chess
• Uljana Semjonova[?] (1952), tallest female basketball player in the Olympic history, 3-time World Champion
• Janis Lusis[?] (1939), the only athlete (javelin) in Latvia to have a complete Olympic medal set (gold, silver, bronze).
• Sandis Ozolinsh[?] - ice hockey player (NHL), defense
• Arturs Irbe[?] - ice hockey player (NHL), goalkeeper
• Arvids Blumentals[?] - the prototype for the Paul Hogan film Crocodile Dundee[?]
• Baiba Skride[?] - a starlet violinist
• numerous opera soloists, such as Inese Galante[?] (soprano) and Egils Silins[?] (bass)