Biography

The decision being a member of the Latvian State Theatre would cost Leiko her life. Xenophobia played a major role in Stalin's political purges of the late 1930s, as the dictator was determined to eliminate foreigners (including Latvians) from positions of power and influence. In December 1937 the Latvian State Theatre was shut down and virtually the entire company, including Leiko, was arrested on fabricated charges of belonging to a "counter-revolutionary nationalist group" in league with fascists.

What became of her three year-old granddaughter is unknown.

Leiko made her performing debut at Riga's Apollo Theatre at the age of 19.

Leiko had one daughter, Nora, who married a retired Soviet diplomat and lived in Russian Georgia. When Nora died in childbirth in 1935, the actress agreed to raise her granddaughter in Riga and traveled cross country to fetch her. On the return journey she was delayed in Moscow, where she accepted an invitation to become a permanent member of the Latvian State Theatre.

After the Nazi seizure of power in 1933, she returned to her native Latvia.