Irma Kalniņa

Irma Kalniņa, born Irma Anna Ferliņa aka Irma Johnson by the previous marriage (born 7 October 1950) is an American of Latvian heritage who moved to Latvia in 1999. In 2022 she was elected the Latvian parliament.

Life Kalniņa was born in New York in 1950. Her mother had avoided being deported to Siberia with the rest of her family because the authorities were told that she was dead. Her parents were Latvian immigrants who had moved to America. Her father was a tailor and her mother could speak six languages. Irma's first language was Latvian and her parents gave her lessons in the culture of Latvia. She wanted to be a doctor but her father decided she wasn't clever enough and told her to be a teacher. He taught her about etiquette. but she could not find work as a teacher. Her father decided that she was a secretary. receiving congratulations from Hillary Clinton and also from Bill Clinton. They moved to Latvia in 1999.

Her husband died in 2021. In 2022 she was elected the Saeima (Latvian parliament), where she was the secretary to the Saeima Foreign Affairs Committee.