Levits was born in Riga, Latvia, during Soviet occupation into the family of Latvian Jewishengineer Jonass Levits and his wife, Latvian-Baltic German poet Ingeborga Levita. In 1972, the family was expelled from the USSR for their Soviet dissident activities and settled in West Germany, where Ingeborga's relatives lived. They lived in West Germany until 1990 when Latvia regained its independence. Levits has stated in interviews that despite his Jewish heritage, he identifies himself foremost as Latvian.
Political career
Levits has been involved in Latvian politics since the late 1980s. Levits became a member of the Popular Front of Latvia and a member of the Latvian Citizens' Congress established in 1989. Later, he joined the political club "Klubs 21" and in 1993 was elected a 5th Saeima deputy from the list of the party Latvijas Ceļš. In 2016, he was among the best paid EU officials. In 2018, he was named "European Man of the Year in Latvia" by the European Movement – Latvia. He has been an Ambassador of Latvia to Austria, Switzerland and Hungary. He is the co-author of the Preamble to the Constitution of Latvia and has been the head for Commission for Constitutional Law, working under the President together with lawyer Lauris Liepa.
Presidential campaigns
He was named a presidential candidate by the National Alliance party in 2011 and 2015, coming second in votes in the final round to minister of defense Raimonds Vējonis in 2015. Levits was widely discussed as a potential front runner candidate for the presidency in early 2019, and on April 15 the parties of the ruling coalition announced that they would support Levits' candidacy. Latvia's parliament elected him on 29 May 2019.
Presidency
He was inaugurated in the Saeima on 8 July 2019. During his inaugural speech, he noted that "there is no ideal country, because that implies halted progress." After the ceremony, he visited the Freedom Monument, laid flowers at the grave of Jānis Čakste, and received the keys to Riga Castle from outgoing President Raimonds Vējonis. On July 10, he conducted his first foreign visit to Tallinn, Estonia, meeting with President Kersti Kaljulaid and Prime MinisterJüri Ratas.
Judicial career
In 1995, Levits was elected representative of Latvia for European Court of Human Rights. Since 2004, he has been Latvia's representative to the European Court of Justice, where the mandate will expire in 2024.
Political views
Levits has expressed traditionally conservative views on issues in Latvian politics. During his time as a European judge, he has been involved in and commented on current developments in Latvia; for example, he pointed out that neither the reception of refugees nor the Istanbul Convention violate the Constitution of Latvia. Levits has expressed skepticism about enacting major change to the financial system, calling Latvia one of the strongest economies in Europe. On the topic of Russian language, Levits has undertaken many initiatives to purge its use in Latvia, including banning private universities that employ instruction in any language except English and Latvian, and reaffirmed that Russian nationals must first pass a Latvian literacy test to receive citizenship. Levits has said that "Russian language is a shackle from the darkest days in history," and that "the only way to be freed from it is to use every opportunity to let it rust away." Levits is not a member of any political party, and has expressed a wish to remain independent.
In popular culture
On the 7 December 2019 episode of Saturday Night Live, Levits was portrayed by Alex Moffat, in a sketch that poked fun at Donald Trump's experience at the 2019 NATO summit.
Personal life
Levits is married to Andra Levite, a gynecologist, and has a son named Linards and a daughter named Indra. In 2019, Levits released his first book Valstsgriba. Idejas un domas Latvijai 1985–2018 where he mentions articles, interviews and combines them with his personal opinion as a Judge at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Aside from his native Latvian language, he also knows German, English, French and Russian.
