In the first twenty years of the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology, up to 1940, 32 women theologians graduated. The first of them, Zenta Bauere, finished the Faculty of Theology in 1923; before that she had studied in Zurich and Heidelberg.
Up to August 1940, 234 people obtained higher theological education at the University of Latvia, of whom 165 entered Church work. The teaching staff of the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology were well-known theologians and scholars of religion, such as V. Maldonis, K. Kundziņš, L. Adamovičs, A. Freijs, G. Mensching, and others. In 1923 the Theological Institute of the Administration of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia was opened, the aim of which was to prepare congregation workers for practical work. The total number of pupils registered at the Institute was 129. The pastors of Latvia’s German congregations for the most part obtained their education at the Theology Department of the Herder Institute.
The faculty’s first dean was Voldemārs Maldonis. At the Faculty of Theology he headed the chair of systematic theology, which encompassed the psychology of religion, the philosophy of religion, dogmatics, ethics, and subjects in the history of modern dogmatics. (Ludvigs Adamovičs. The Faculty of Theology 1919-1039 (2nd ed., LELBA, 1981)). When the faculty emphasised its Lutheran confessional affiliation, the tensions with the Evangelical Lutheran Church were also smoothed over, since it was clear that the faculty trained the new pastors of the Lutheran Church, and its necessity was proven by the steadily growing number of students and the work of graduates in the churches. By decision of the council of the Faculty of Theology, candidates for study had the right to the office of pastor in the Lutheran Church and to work as a religious education teacher. Here a significant difference between women students and men students could be observed. Namely, women were essentially prepared for the office of religious education teacher, since they could not be ordained, whereas men were prepared for both teaching and pastoral work, since they could be ordained. According to the rules of the Faculty of Theology, anyone who completed their candidate’s thesis with the grade “very successfully” had the right to an academic career. (Anita Priedīte, The Latvian Theologian 1920-1940. Faculty of Theology bachelor’s thesis. Riga: University of Latvia, 2003)
In his review of 20 years of the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology, Prof. L. Adamovičs assesses that the number of women among the students held at around 14-20%, which was highest in the period from the 1932/33 to the 1935/36 academic year. The highest number of women students (55 women students, or 24%) was in the 1935/36 academic year.
The number of women who graduated is only 30, i.e. 12.5%. During the Soviet occupation, two more women finished the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology. Thus, according to E. Ķiploks’s calculations, during the existence of the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology up to 1940 there were 32 academically educated Latvian women theologians. Among the 1943 graduates of the Orthodox department was one woman – Irina Vasina. (E. Ķiploks “Latvian Women Theologians” in “Go and Tell” (Ogre Evangelical Lutheran congregation, 1995))
Did Latvian women theologians, on entering the faculty, have the aim of obtaining ordination? The biographies of Bauere and Pone attest to this. But when they began their studies, this aim was very distant. Agnese Pone did not believe she would live to see it in her lifetime.
E. Ķiploks listed all the names of the women theologians and also researched their fates somewhat:
| Surname, first name | Year of graduation from the UL Faculty of Theology | Life and service | Latest information | |
| 1. | Brauere Zenta | 1923 | The first woman graduate of the UL Faculty of Theology. Before that she studied theology in Zurich and Heidelberg. Because of her sex she was not granted permission to study at the University of Tartu. The first chairwoman of the Women Theologians’ Society. She remained in her homeland and worked at a school as a language teacher; she did not become involved in church work. More in the publication “Ceļa Biedrs”, 1977, 64. | Latest information from 1977. |
| 2. | Gusarte Elza | 1926 | The first graduate to begin and complete her studies entirely at the UL Faculty of Theology. After finishing the faculty she also obtained a degree in classical philology and worked as a teacher of religious education, Russian, psychology, and Latin at the Rūjiena gymnasium. She went into exile as a refugee in the USA and worked at a school. More in the publication “Ceļa Biedrs”, 1966, 6. | Died in 1966. |
| 3. | Ceimere Ludmila | 1927 | Remained in her homeland. During her studies she won a prize for the works “A Portrayal of the History and Life of the Brethren Congregation in Latvian Literature” and “The Faith and Morality of Orphaned Children in Latvian Spiritual Heritage”. | No information |
| 4. | Pone Agnese | 1929 | She began her theological education in 1918 at the Faculty of Theology of the University of Tartu. She continued her studies at the UL Faculty of Theology and finished it in 1928. In between she studied Baltic philology at the UL, specifically Latvian literature. In 1936 she furthered her knowledge in theology and psychology in Zurich and Basel under Prof. E. Brunner and Prof. K. Barth. In Riga, at the Church Administration, she obtained the rights of a preacher (one who speaks). She gave her first sermon from the lectern in the Old St. Gertrude’s Church. In Riga she worked as a teacher of Latvian and religious education at several gymnasiums, after which she worked as a lecturer at the University of Latvia and was a member of the external examination commission at the Ministry of Education. From 1936 to 1939 she was chairwoman of the Women Theologians’ Society. In exile as a refugee in Germany she began her service, performing the work of a pastor but with the status of a vicar, which she obtained in 1950. After 24 years of faithful service, she was ordained in 1974 in Esslingen as the first Latvian woman pastor. The ordination was performed by Archbishop A. Lūsis, assisted by provosts J. Teriņš and E. Rozītis. | 1977. |
| 5. | Ozoliņa Elīna | 1929 | She was active in the society “The Evangelical Brethren Congregation of Latvia” as a lecturer in the courses for spiritual workers, teaching practical theology. She preached at the services in the meeting houses. During the war she remained in her homeland, and after the war she served as a deaconess in both Jelgava congregations – Anna’s and Jānis’s. | 1963. |
| 6. | Zoniņa-Pūliņa Klāra | 1929 | Remained in her homeland. She served in the office of deaconess in the post-war period. She lived in Talsi. | No information |
| 7. | Zīverte-Zālīte Milda | 1930 | Remained in her homeland. During her studies she received recognition for the work “Punishment and Penalties in the Light of Ethics”, and wrote the work “Woman in the Ancient Religions”. | 1981. |
| 8. | Šmite Marta | 1934 | She went into exile as a refugee in Germany and served in the home mission in the German Church in Bremen. | No information |
| 9. | Alksne Ģertrūde | 1936 | In 1937 she was a sub-assistant at the UL Faculty of Theology and would have continued her academic advancement as a member of the teaching staff. She went into exile as a refugee in the USA. She became a librarian. More in the publication “Ceļa biedrs”, 1970, 6. | 1970. |
| 10. | Ose Millija, married name Āboltiņa | 1936 | She went into exile as a refugee in the USA and became a landscape gardener. | |
| 11. | Akmeņkalēja Vera, married name Fricsone | 1936 | In exile as a refugee in the USA, she received ordination in 1977; ordained by Archbishop A. Lūsis. | |
| 12. | Biezuma Zenta, married name Ozoliņa | 1936 | She went into exile as a refugee in the USA. | |
| 13. | Misiņa Velta, married name Klenberga | 1936 | She went into exile as a refugee in Australia. | |
| 14. | Vītola Velta, married name Ozolniece | 1936 | She went into exile as a refugee in Canada. | |
| 15. | Redliha Olga | 1936 | Remained in her homeland. | |
| 16. | Ose Johanna | 1936 | Remained in her homeland. The start of her service was in 1941. It was said of her that she was one of the best evangelist pastors. She became a deaconess of the ELCL. She worked as an administrator in the Riga Pāvils congregation and assisted pastor L. Taivāns in the Jēzus congregation and also in the Mežaparks congregation. In the post-war years, the acting archbishop Kārlis Irbe offered her ordination, but she refused, so as not to be overcome by pride in becoming the first woman pastor. More in the publication “Ceļa biedrs”, 1962, 5. Her sermons are published in the publication “Ceļa biedrs”, 1963, 5 and 1966, 5. | 1962. |
| 17. | Biteniece Lilija | 1936 | Remained in her homeland. She transferred to the Baptist church. | No information |
| 18. | Blūmenfelde Elvīra, married name Siliņa | 1937 | She went into exile as a refugee in England. Ordained to the pastoral office in 1978. | |
| 19. | Priedulāja Milda, née Salume | 1937 | Deported in 1941. She was active in the literary field. | |
| 20. | Ivane Marta | 1937 | Remained in her homeland. | |
| 21. | Šlesere Valija | 1939 | She went into exile as a refugee in Sweden. | |
| 22. | Bērziņa-Bērzīte Elza | 1939 | She helped in church work. | |
| 23. | Leite Milda, married name Lindeneberga | 1939 | Remained in her homeland. | |
| 24. | Krumese Olga, married name Gailīte | 1939 | During her studies in 1937 she received recognition for the work “Life Beyond the Grave in Latvian Folk Traditions”, a work published in the UL Faculty of Theology publication “Ceļš” in 1938. She remained in her homeland. She studied medicine and became a physician. |
For the following women graduates of the University of Latvia Faculty of Theology from 1928 to 1940, no information can be found in the sources indicated.
| 1. | Švānberga Juliāna | 1928 |
| 2. | Pranka Vilma | 1928 |
| 3. | Rudzīte Vilma | 1933 |
| 4. | Niedrīte Emma | 1933 |
| 5. | Bērziņa Valija | 1937 |
| 6. | Brante Elza | 1940 |
| 7. | Lielmeža Elza | 1940 |
| 8 | Drešmane Vera | 1938 |
Sources used in this compilation:
1) Rev. Ķiploks E. “Latvian Women Theologians” in the publication “Go and Tell” (Ogre Evangelical Lutheran congregation, 1995)
2) Dr. phil. Tēraudkalns V. “The Path to the Ordination of Lutheran Women in Latvia” (UL Faculty of Theology publication Ceļš No. 57), pp. 28, 30.