HISTORY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND INSTITUTIONS OF No. 2, Sept. 2018, p. 12.–23. HIGHER EDUCATION doi: 10.7250/HESIHE.2018.002 2018/2 GRADUATES AND STUDENTS OF THE RIGA POLYTECHNICUM / PARTICIPANTS OF THE PROCLAMATION OFRIGA INDEPENDENT POLYTECHNIC REPUBLIC INSTITUTE OF ‒LATVIA ALĪDA ZIGMUNDE*, ALVARS BALDIŅŠ Riga Technical University Summary. In 2018, Latvia celebrates a hundred years since it became an inde- pendent state. One hundred years ago, on 18 November 1918, 38 members of the the proclamation of Latvia. None of them experienced the restoration of the Re- publicPeople’s of Council Latvia, ofand Latvia most (furtherof them indied the before text ‒ thethe endPeople’s of the Council) Second tookWorld part War. in amongThere were the participants seven graduates in the of founding the Riga act Polytechnicum of the Republic (RP) of Latvia. / Riga OfPolytechnic the seven Institute (RPI) and one student who did not receive a diploma from the institute the Second World War went into exile, one died in 1924. Some of the participants ofgraduates the Proclamation four suffered of the repressions Republic of in Latvia 1941 and have were left writtentaken to testimonies Siberia, two about after the beginnings of the state’s foundation. All members of the People’s Council were reputable Latvian citizens, some of them were awarded the Order of Three Stars for meritorious service to native land. Keywords: Act of Proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, members of the Latvian People’s Council, Riga Polytechnicum, Riga Polytechnic Institute, engineers. Engineers – participants of proclamation of the Republic of Latvia World War, but the idea of own country was already in place. There was The Republic of Latvia was founded a week after the end of the First * Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected] © 2018 Alīda Zigmunde, Alvars Baldiņš. Publisher RTU Press. This is an open access article licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 12 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Alīda Zigmunde, Alvars Baldiņš Graduates a similar situation also in other East and Central European countries. and Students of the Riga The repressed European nations had become a political factor and had Polytechnicum / a common ground: «They were cultural nations with democratic prin- Riga Polytechnic ciples, with the unconquerable will and self-determination to fight for Participants of their freedom. Therefore, ensuring the existence of all these new nations theInstitute Proclamation ‒ went hand in hand with the struggle for freedom [1].» Several dozen gra- of Independent duates and former students of RPI contributed to the defense of national Republic of Latvia independence in the struggle for freedom in Latvia, which lasted from 18 November 1918 until 11 August 1920, when the Latvian-Soviet Peace - areTreaty engineers, was signed. RPI graduatesMany books, who published have participated articles and in memoirs,the proclamation and his oftorians’ the Republic studies wereof Latvia written on 18about November the events 1918, of thosebecause days. such Less research known has not been carried out so far. A solemnOn 18 meetingNovember of 381918, members at the ofLatvian the People’s National Council Theatre from (then eight ‒ par the- tiesRiga was Second held atCity the Theatre) building designedthe Republic by a graduateof Latvia of was the Departmentproclaimed. Augusts Reinbergs powerof Architecture of sovereign (1881) state ofin Latviathe Riga is transferredPolytechnicum to the People’s Council. The(1860–1908). People’s CouncilAt this was meeting the interim an announcement legislator and was from made 17 November that the Provisional National Council», established on 29 November 1917 by the organisation1918, which continuedof Latvian thepolitical work parties that had of Valkabeen city.started Until by 30 the April «Latvian 1920, the People’s Council was the «temporary parliament» of the Republic of Latvia, the interim legislature. On 30 January 1918, the Latvian Pro- visional National Council adopted a resolution on the establishment of a united, independent and democratic Republic of Latvia [2]. Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics the political (1887–1925), party «Latvian a graduateFarmers’ Union»of the Departmentin 1917, and activelyof Commerce parti- cipated(1911) of in Rigathe Council. Polytechnic Before Institute the official (1911), proclamation was one of of the the foundersRepublic of Latvia, in the summer of 1918, Z. A. Meierovics went abroad in order to find the support of foreign governments for the new independent state. On 12 August, he arrived in London and on 23 October, he met Arthur meeting, A. J. Balfour confirmed that the United Kingdom provisionally recognizedJames Balfour the (1848–1930), Latvian Provisional the British National Foreign Council Secretary. as the During Govern the- ment of Latvia before the Paris Peace Conference1 [3]. On 11 November, 1 the Allied Powers and the defeated Central Powers. World War I conference held in Paris (1919–1920) to conclude peace treaties between 13 HISTORY OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES AND INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER EDUCATION 2018/2 Z. A. Meierovics received a written confirmation from the British Foreign Office of Latvia’s de facto recognition [4]. Most of people who founded the People’s Council on 17 November 1918, also participated in the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, including seven graduates from the Riga Polytechnicum / Riga Polytechnic Institute. They represented three political parties: the Latvian Farmers’ Union (Jānis Vārsbergs, Vilis Gulbis, Oto Nonācs, Pēteris Murītis, Kārlis Vanags Miķelis Bružis the Latvian Independence Party (Spricis Paegle ), Latvian DemocraticKārlis Party Kurševics ( , former) andRPI student, did not participate in the founding of the) [5]. People’s The member Council. of Thethe nextLatvian day Socialhe came Democratic to the state Workers’ proclamation. Party Assessing the numerical composition of the members of the People’s Council at the event of proclamation of the Republic of Latvia, it has to be concluded that 18 % were the graduates of the RP / RPI, to add a chemis- try student K. Kurševics, who was not a graduate yet – the total amount leads to 21 %. Who were these «polytechnicans» participating at the proclamation event? - lished at the Riga Polytechnicum in the 1860s, three should be men- tionedOf the – Departments six Departments of Chemistry, (at present Trade, – Faculties), and Agriculture, which were that estab were the Departments from which the «polytechnicans» participating at the event of the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia had graduated. Miķelis Bružis the Department of Technical Chemistry of the Riga Polytechnicum, can be seen in the (1868–1941)first row in thewho photograph studied chemistry of the event and ofgraduated proclamation from Vilis Rīdzinieks [6]. After graduating from the Department of Technical Chemistry2 of the RepublicMiķelis Bružisof Latvia on 18 November 1918 taken by to Riga in 1909 where he turned to construction and public activities. In(1895), 1920, M. Bružis was worked elected for a member several yearsof the infirst Turkestan, Parliament returned of the In addition, Miķelis Bružis served as Director-General of the Hipotēku Republic of Latvia – the Constitutional Assembly of Latvia (1920–1922). «Ķieģelis» (« (Mortgage) Bank (1924–1927)« andPasaules Director uzskats of the jeb Joint-Stockcilvēks dabā, Company sabied- rībā un mūžībāBrick» («») (1930–1936). In the 1930s he left active political life Eternityand began» to write the book 2002. During his freeWorld time Outlook,engineer orM. Bružisa Human in Nature, Society and Society and), which the Society was printed for Promoting in 1936. AfterLatvian 76 Art.years, On it 14 was June reissued 1941, inat worked at the Riga Latvian- ted this life in November of that year. the age of 73, he was deported to Solikamsk in Russia, where he depar 2 From 1896 – Department of Chemistry. 14 Alīda Zigmunde, Alvars Baldiņš Graduates Miķelis Bružis’ contemporary Spricis Paegle - and Students of the Riga died chemistry and in 1901 received an engineer’s diploma at the Riga Polytechnicum / Polytechnic Institute. The two were members of(1876–1962) the Latvian also Student stu Riga Polytechnic Corporation «Selonija». Spricis Paegle - Participants of try before the First World War, held the position of Minister of Trade and theInstitute Proclamation ‒ , who worked in the cement indus of Independent Provisional Government. He was one of the founders of the Latvian Red Republic of Latvia Industry (1918–1919) in the First Cabinet of Ministers of the Latvian AfterCross theand Second a member World of War,the Main S. Paegle Board lived (1921–1940), in Germany participated [7]. The engineer in the founding of the Latvian Red Cross School of Merciful Nursing (1920).- dening. S. Paegle planted extensive alleys of apple trees, lime trees and mapletook active trees, part established in various a treesocieties, nursery he wasat his into homeland collecting in art Kalnabeites and gar village (Sigulda and shrubs in the garden. municipality). There were about 10 000 different trees Figure 1. Spricis Paegle (around 1919) [8]. Spricis Paegle was one of 188 Latvian politicians and cultural the Memorandum of the Latvian Central Council on the restoration of Latvia’sworkers independencewho during the and Second the establishment World War, ofon the 17 Latvian March 1944,Government. signed The Memorandum on the Act of proclamation of the Republic of Latvia Spricis Paegle and Jānis