Ina Druviete Latvian politician, philologist Date of Birth: 28.05.1958 Country: Latvia

1. Early Life and Education
2. Academic and Research Career
3. Political Career
4. Academic Research
5. Honors and Awards

Early Life and Education

Ilga Šuplinskawas born in Riga, Latvia, and attended the University of Latvia, graduating in 1981 with a degree in philology, specializing in Latvian language and literature. Subsequently, she pursued her postgraduate studies at the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR, obtaining her doctorate in 1985.

Academic and Research Career

Šuplinska embarked on an academic career at the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR as a junior researcher from 1985 to 1992. She became a leading researcher at the University of Latvia's Institute of Latvian Language in 1992, a position she still holds today. In 1996, she earned her habilitation in sociolinguistics. She was appointed Professor of Latvian and General Linguistics at the University of Latvia in 1997 and re-elected in 2003 and 2009.

Political Career

Šuplinska entered politics as a member of the Unity Party. She was elected to the 8th Latvian Parliament (Saeima) in 2002, where she served as chairperson of the Human Rights and Public Affairs Committee from 2002 to 2004. She was appointed Minister of Education and Science from 2004 to 2006 in the government of Aigars Kalvītis. Šuplinska was re-elected to the 9th and 10th Saema in 2006 and 2010, respectively. In the latter, she chaired the Education, Culture, and Science Committee from 2010 to 2011. She continued in the same role when elected to the 11th Saeima in 2011. Šuplinska was reappointed as Minister of Education and Science from January to November 2014 under the government of Laimdota Straujuma. She was not re-elected to the Saeima in 2014 but became the new Pro-Rector of Humanities and Education at the University of Latvia in August 2015.

Academic Research

Šuplinska is a prolific author, having published over 300 academic papers in fields such as general linguistics, language policy, and education science. She has authored eight monographs and supervised six doctoral dissertations.

Honors and Awards

Šuplinska has received numerous honors and awards, including the Order of the Three Stars (2012), the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (2005), and the Cicero Award (2005). She was also recognized with the Presidium Award of the Academy of Sciences of the Latvian SSR in 1982 and 1990. In 2016, she was elected as a Full Member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.