Leonards Latkovskis

Leonard Latkovski Jr. (, 1943–2015) was a Latvian American professor of history and international studies at Hood College, who championed Eastern European studies, particularly those of his ethnic origin in Latgale, Latvia.

Background

Leonard Latkovski Jr., was born on June 9, 1943, in Kārsava, Latgale, Latvia. His Catholic parents were Leonard Latkovski Sr. , and Albīna Putāns. (Latkovski Sr. was a professor of classics at Bellarmine College.) He had eight siblings. In 1944, his family fled from the advancing Soviet army from Latvia to Germany, where they lived in refugee camps until they emigrated to the United States in 1950 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky. In 1961, Latkovski graduated from Louisville St. Xavier High School. In 1964, he received a BA in history from Bellarmine College (and served as president of its student body). At Georgetown University, he earned an MA in Russia and Eastern European history in 1967 and doctorate in Russian History in 1973. He also coached the college's tennis team. As a Catholic, he used these tours during the Soviet era to monitor religious persecution, to interview priests and citizens, and reported to the Vatican, including personally to Pope John Paul II. As an historian, "he placed a critical spotlight on deportations and inhuman conditions in Soviet gulags, having interviewed dozens of survivors." He also appeared in Russian and Latvian media.

Personal life and death

In 1967, Latkovski married Patricia Hannigan; they had four children. Soviet Gulag interviewees included the daughter of his own aunt after 14 years of imprisonment for religious and democracy efforts. He provided "trunk loads" of medicine and necessities on his trips to Latvia.

In October 2015, Hood College announced the Dr. Leonard Latkovski Memorial Prize in History, originally established in 2009 and renamed in 2015 for Latkovski's "outstanding achievement in history."

Works

Dreaded Island: The History of Novaya Zemlya (1968) with Michael W. Adler Dictionary of Historic Documents (1990) (introduction) Aglona: History of the Church and Monastery (2009). Latgalian Culture Centre, Rezekne. Baltic Prisoners in the Gulag Revolts of 1953, part I. Lituanus, 51(3), p. 4-39. Baltic Prisoners in the Gulag Revolts of 1953, part II. Lituanus,51(4), p. 5-30.