Valdis Zatlers

ABOUT VALDIS ZATLERS

Politician and former doctor who is recognized for having served as the seventh President of Latvia, from 2007 to 2011. He stepped down in 2011 after failing to win a second term.

He graduated from the Institute of Medicine in Riga in 1979. He became an orthopedic surgeon, and eventually served as the chief of the traumatology department at Riga Hospital No. 2.

He was a medical service officer dispatched to help assist after the Chernobyl disaster. In 2007, he became a recipient of the Order of the Three Stars. He received an honorary doctorate from Yerevan State University. While President of Latvia, he had talks with powerful political figures like Vladimir Putin .

He and his wife Lilita Zatlere have three kids.

He and fellow politician Egils Levits were both born in Latvia.