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Title: Peters Z. Olins Papers
Dates: 1927-1962
Collection number: 83010
Creator:
Olins, Peters Z., d. 1962.
Collection Size:
4 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize box
(2 linear feet)
Repository:
Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace
Stanford, California 94305-6010
Abstract: Correspondence, dispatches, writings, financial records, printed matter,
photographs, and memorabilia, relating to Latvian foreign relations and émigré affairs.
Physical location: Hoover Institution Archives
Languages:
Languages represented in the collection:
Latvian
English
Collection is open for research.
The Hoover Institution Archives only allows access to
copies of audiovisual items. To listen to sound recordings or to view videos or films during your visit, please contact the Archives
at least two working days before your arrival. We will then advise you of the accessibility of the material you wish to see
or hear. Please note that not all audiovisual material is immediately accessible.
For copyright status, please contact the Hoover Institution Archives.
[Identification of item], Peters Z. Olins Papers, [Box no.], Hoover Institution
Archives.
Acquired by the Hoover Institution Archives in 1997.
Materials may have been added to the collection since this finding aid was prepared. To determine if this has occurred, find
the collection in Stanford University's online catalog at
http://searchworks.stanford.edu/ . Materials have been added to the collection if the number of boxes listed in the online catalog is larger than the number
of boxes listed in this finding aid.
| 1890 | Born, Valmiera, Latvia |
| 1919 | Enters Latvian diplomatic service |
| 1927 | Awarded Ph.D. in history, American University, Washington, D.C. |
| 1928 | Author, The Teutonic Knights in Latvia. Promoted to rank of Minister Plenipotentiary. |
| 1962 | Died |
| 1910-1914 | Student at the University of St. Petersburg |
| 1935-1962 | Latvian minister to Argentina and Brazil |
Scope and Content of Collection
Acquired in 1997, the Peters Z. Olins papers in the Hoover Institution Archives comprise materials relating to
this Latvian diplomat, who served most of his career in posts in Argentina and Brazil. Of perhaps most historical
interest in the collection is the official correspondence exchanged between Olins and other Latvian representatives
in London, Washington, and elsewhere, and especially his correspondence with Alfreds Bilmanis, Latvian ambassador to
the United States. This series also includes copies of letters sent between the Foreign Ministry of Latvia and various
Latvian legations, and covers the period before and during World War II. From this correspondence, it is possible to
reconstruct the Latvian state's evaluation of its situation in the years immediately before its loss of independence
in 1940. These materials also document the unsuccessful efforts of Latvian diplomats abroad to restore Latvian
sovereignty after the end of the war.
Following the annexation of Latvia by the Soviet Union, many Latvian diplomats in the West, including Olins,
retained their official status as representatives of Latvia and continued to exercise their duties. In this regard,
the collection contains both correspondence as well as a number of reports written by Olins and sent to the Latvian
Legation in the United States. There is also an album of photographs in the collection relating to Olins' life and
career, including his early years as a student and a soldier in World War I, when Latvia was a province of the Russian
empire.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in
the library's online public access catalog.
Latvians in foreign countries.
Argentina--Foreign relations--Latvia.
Brazil--Foreign relations--Latvia.
Latvia--Foreign relations--Argentina.
Latvia--Foreign relations--Brazil.
Diplomats--Latvia.