Vaira VÄ«Ä·e-Freiberga

Vaira Vike -Freiberga [ vi ː ce vaira free bergamot ] ( born December 1, 1937 in Riga, Latvia) was 1999-2007 President of the Republic of Latvia. She was first elected in 1999 and re-elected in 2003, it was replaced by Valdis Zatlers on 8 July 2007.

Life

The parents of Vaira Vike -Freiberga were war refugees. They left Latvia in 1944 and lived in the following years in different countries: Germany, Morocco and Canada. In Canada, studied Vike -Freiberga at the Universities of Toronto and McGill University, where she was in 1965 a doctorate in psychology.

Between 1965 and 1998, she was Professor of Psychology at the University of Montréal. During this time she was already active in the Latvian Community in Canada, a large part of their research revolved around the traditional Latvian Daina. She received five honorary doctorates and other prestigious awards.

Vaira Vike - 1998 returned Freiberga returned to Latvia to take over the management of the Latvian Institute, an organization dedicated to promoting awareness of Latvia abroad. The following year she was elected as the successor of Guntis Ulmanis as President of the Republic of Latvia. In 2003 she was elected by Parliament for a second term, which ended in 2007.

In December 2007, the former State President was as deputy chairman of the newly created " reflection group " of the European Union ( also called the Council of the Wise ) was appointed. The Council deals with issues of the EU's future development.

Vaira Vike -Freiberga speaks several languages ​​fluently, including Latvian, English, French and German. She is married to Imants Freiberg, a computer science professor at the University of Quebec in Montreal. The couple has two children, Karlis and Indra.

Policy

The non-party President provided a clear Western orientation of Latvia and strove for EU membership of their country. It is exceptionally popular because of their independent and safe occurrence in the Latvian population.

Honors and Awards

Works

  • Vaira Vike- Freiberga (ed.): Linguistics and poetics of Latvian folk songs: essays in honor of the sesquicentennial of the birth of Kr Barons ( = McGill Queen's studies in ethnic history, and 4). Kingston [ inter alia ]: McGill - Queen's Univ. Press 1989. ISBN 0-7735-0661-6. (English)
  • Vaira Vike -Freiberga: Dzintara Kalna: apceres par latviešu tautasdziesmām. Rīga: 1993 ISBN 5-405-00949-0 Zvaigzne. . ( Book on Latvian folk songs, Latvian)
  • Vaira Vike -Freiberga: Trejādas saules, hronoloģiskā saule. Rīga: Karogs 1999 ISBN 9984-505-52-9. . (English: " The triple sun ", Latvian)
  • Vaira Vike -Freiberga: Saules Zime. Rīga: Nordik 1999 ISBN 9984-675-08-4. . (German: " sun sign ", Latvian)
  • Vaira Vike- Freiberga: Latvia 's place in a new Europe. in: European essay, 13/ 2000. (English)
  • Vaira Vike- Freiberga: The Republic of Latvia and the State of North Rhine -Westphalia - partner in a united Europe. in: Industrial Club Dusseldorf, issue 15 /2001.
Order of the Three Stars Order of Prince Henry Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland Hannah Arendt Prize Walter Hallstein Prize Dalhousie University Order of Viesturs Order of Leopold (Belgium) Gustavs Zemgals Alberts Kviesis Anatolijs Gorbunovs Integrated Authority File
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