A Nation Must Think Before it Acts
The Curious Case of Kārlis Leyasmeyer
A nation must think before it acts.
The Curious Case of Kārlis Leyasmeyer
In this episode of Baltic Ways, Dr. Indra Ekmanis speaks with Dr. Joseph M. Ellis of Wingate University about his research, in collaboration with Dr. Ieva Zaķe, on Dr. Kārlis Leyasmeyer, a Latvian theologian, educator, and social scientist, who arrived with his family in Pennsylvania in 1949 as a displaced person. Leyasmeyer was prolific — he became a professor at a local university and gave speeches to countless audiences on his belief that the Christian faith could triumph over the evils of Communism. While he was connected to the American Latvian community and American evangelical groups, these relationships were sometimes strained. Today, Leyasmeyer has largely faded from the narrative. According to Ellis and Zaķe, Kārlis Leyasmyer’s is a story of triumph and complexity, adding unique perspective to the Latvian diaspora experience in America. This episode was recorded on May 30, 2026, on the sidelines of the AABS Biennial Conference at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
Read more: “Karlis Leyasmeyer and the Christian speaking circuit. Anti-Communism and Evangelism in 1950s America” in Baltic Worlds, December 2025.
Image: A Chicagoland Youth for Christ (YFC) religious rally held at the Chicago Stadium during the 1940s. (Source: Walk With The King)
Baltic Ways is a podcast from the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies, produced in partnership with the Baltic Initiative at the Foreign Policy Research Institute. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of AABS or FPRI.
