Biographical Note

Normans Penke of Latvia Chair of Third Committee

Normans Penke, Permanent Representative of Latvia to the United Nations, was elected Chair of the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) on 10 June.  (See Press Release GA/10831.)

Before his current appointment to the United Nations, Mr. Penke was State Secretary of his country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2004 to 2008.  Earlier, he served as Ambassador of Latvia to the Russian Federation from 2001 to 2004, Ambassador to Ireland from 1998 to 2001, and Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2001.

During several years previously, beginning in 1992, Mr. Penke held numerous posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including Director of the Legal Department, Undersecretary of State for Legal and Consular Affairs, Undersecretary of State for International Organizations and Foreign Trade, and Undersecretary of State for Multilateral Relations.

Between 1990 and 1992, he was a lecturer on international law at the University of Latvia’s Institute of International Affairs, having been a junior research associate at the same Institute from 1989 to 1990.

Mr. Penke was educated at the University of Latvia, Faculty of Law (1989) and at Oxford University under its Foreign Service Programme (1993/1994).  He is fluent in Latvian, Russian, English and French.

Born on 1 January 1964 in Riga, Latvia, Mr. Penke is married with two daughters.

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*     This supersedes Press Release BIO/4040 of 11 November 2008.

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