Miķelis Valters

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Miķelis Valters (formerly, and as an author in German, Walters) (b. May 7, 1874 in Liepāja -- d. March 27, 1968 in Nice) was a prominent Latvian politician, diplomat, writer, and editor.

With Ernests Rolavs, Valters is considered to be one of the first to demand self-determination for the Latvians in the form of an autonomous state within a democratic Russian federation. He is also credited with formulating the clause in Article I of the Latvian constitution (the Satversme, adopted in 1922) stating that "the sovereign power of the State of Latvia is vested in the people of Latvia" (Latvian: Latvijas tauta) rather than the Latvian people (Latvian: latviešu tauta), and is thus responsible for laying part of the legal groundwork for a multi-ethnic nation-state and "political nation."