Background
Kalniete was born in Togur, Tomsk Oblast, Siberia, Russia, where her family was deported from Latvia during the occupation of her country by the Soviet Union, for use as slave labour. She only saw her native country when she was seven years old.
She studied art at Latvian Academy of Art from 1977 to 1981 and worked as an art historian, publishing a book, Latvian textile art, in 1989. She joined politics in 1988, during Latvia's independence movement, and was a deputy chairwoman and one of the founders of Latvian Popular Front, the main pro-independence political organization. Ms. Kalniete has graduated the Department of Art History and Art Theory in the Art Academy of Latvia (1981), the Institute for International Studies in Leeds University (1992), The Graduate Institute of International Studies at the University of Geneva (1995), and has a Master of Arts from Art Academy of Latvia (1996).
After Latvia declared independence, Kalniete worked in Latvia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as Latvia's ambassador to the UN (from 1993 to 1997), France (from 1997 to 2000) and UNESCO (from 2000 to 2002).
Read more about this topic: Sandra Kalniete
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