Krišjānis Valdemārs (in Germanized spelling as Christian Waldemar or Woldemar) (2 December 1825 at Vecjunkuri in Ārlava parish (now Valdgale parish, Courland, Latvia) – 7 December 1891 in Moscow, Russia)[1] was a writer, editor, educator, politician, lexicographer, folklorist and economist, the spiritual leader of The First Latvian National Awakening and the most prominent member of the Young Latvians movement.

He graduated from local parish school and worked as a teacher in Sasmaka (now named Valdemārpils in his honor).

At its opening he uttered the famous phrase "Brauciet, latvji, jūriņā, krājiet zeltu pūriņā!"

It had big influence on local economy and culture because hundreds of Latvian peasant sons had a chance to get education for free and become captains or steersmen.

It led to the "Age of Sailors" in Latvia as active shipbuilding started in coastal towns and villages and those Latvian-built, Latvian-owned and -crewed ships became the first national merchant fleet which was even involved in trans-Atlantic voyages.

In later life Valdemārs was mostly involved in polemics with Baltic Germans, popularized seafaring and edited the first Latvian naval dictionary.