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On November 26, Valts Ernštreits, Head of the UL Livonian Institute, was elected a corresponding member of the Latvian Academy of Sciences.
Congratulations on the 102nd birthday of the Republic of Latvia and the 97th birthday of the Livonian flag!
Drawing: Alvīne Veinberga.
The poetry collection "Trilium" has received the literary prize of the Association of Finno-Ugric Literature and the Kindred Peoples' Program in the poetry category.
The prize has been established and awarded since 2007.
Monthly item – a photograph from the opening ceremony of the Livonian National House on August 6, 1939, in which two plays were performed.
In the photograph you can see the actors of both performances, but you can read more about both performances in the monthly item's description.
On November 9, the Estonian Literary Museum celebrates the 120th anniversary of Oskar Loorits, the founder of the Estonian Folklore Archives.
An interesting web exhibition of three professors of the University of Tartu has been completed.
Julius Mark, Julius Mägiste and Paul Ariste – to a greater or lesser extent, they all have a connection with the Livonian language and Livonians.
Researcher of Livonian Mati Hint (1937–2019) has passed away.
The Latvian Storytellers Conference to take place at the UL Livonian Institute.
Lutsi Estonian and the researcher of Lutsi Estonians in Ludza.
Congratulations to our good friends and supporters at the University of Tartu on their 100th anniversary!
Happy anniversary, Latvia!
12.11.2019.
Commission of the Latvian parliament together with UL LIvonian Institute discussed keeping Livonian linguistic and cultural heritage.
UL Livonian institute is telling about Baltic and Finnic contacts at the Ventspils Augstskola.
05.11.2019 a tombstone for Tõnu Karma and Marta Rudzīte was opened.
Money for the tombstone was donated by their friends from Estonia and Latvia, including UL Livonian Institute, Livonian Culture Centre and Livonian Union.
02/11/2019 participants of the Livonian summer school Mierlinkizt for children and youth met at the UL Livonian Institute.
The UL Livonian Institute on Livonian situation in Latvia today.
Opening of the Tõnu Karma and Marta Rudzīte gravestone, 05.11.2019.
13.00 in the Riga I Forest cemetary.
Work on the research of the Vidzeme Livonians continues!
Thanks to Rasma Noriņa!
On 12th October 2019 in Riga, in the 7th Baltic Student Conference "Bridges in the Baltics" the particularities of the Baltic and South Finnic imperatives were introduced by the researcher of the UL Livonian Institute Milda Dailidėnaitė.
UL LI researcher Uldis Balodis speaks about the work and future plans of the Livonian Institute at the University of Latvia's centenary conference.
During the Kindred nations day's conference will also include the UL Livonian institute's presentation on Livonians.
On 07.10.2019 the Head of the UL Livonian Institute met the President of the Republic of Latvia to discuss the future and plans for the Republic of Latvia to meet its obligations to the Livonians as specified in the law.
LI Līvõd institūt Valsts prezidents Latvijas Universitāte
On 03.10.2019 during the smart lexicography conference Elex Conference in Sintra, Portugal, the UL Livonian Institute spoke about Livonian dictionaries.
Find out your Livonian Alter Ego!
My Livonian Alter ego!
The UL Livonian Institute participates in EU Science Night!
Come down and find out your Livonian Alter ego! #LatvijasUniversitāte #ZinatniekuNakts
The UL Livonian Institute speaks about the Livonians at the Rīga Purvciems Secondary School.
The director of the UL Livonian Institute speaking about Livonian place names at the place names experts meeting.
During the place names experts meeting the UL Livonian Institute will be speaking about Livonian place names in Latvia.
Already on monday LI Līvõd institūt will take place conference Livonica 2019.
Today Latvian National guard turns 28!
The director of the UL Livonian Institute meets the President of the Republic of Latvia.
In the newspaper "Sestdiena" – our researcher Uldis Balodis.
Appreciation letters from the Estonian Ministry of Culture to the UL Livonian Institute researchers – Renāte Blumberga, Valts Ernštreits and Gunta Kļava .
Yet another nice day for the UL Livonian Institute spent together with children from Livonian children and young people summer school "MIerlinkizt" – in Mazirbe, Slītere, Kolka, Vaide and Pitrags.
The UL Livonian Institute visits its Nordic colleagues.
On 26.07.2019 at the Livonian Community House, the UL Livonian Institute participated in the Livonian children’s and youth camp "Mierlinkizt", offering a four-hour programme on Livonian heritage – culture, history, language and their role in Latvia.
Participants also took a quiz on various topics connected with the Livonians and created their own Livonian CVs.
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Preface of the State President
This year the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia celebrates the 90th anniversary of its adoption and entry into force.
The Constitution was adopted on 15 February 1922, but came into force on 7 November 1922, when the parliament elected by the people – the Saeima – gathered for work.
This year marked the official legal beginning of the statehood of Latvia.
The Constitution of the Republic of Latvia is the sample of the constitu­ tional idea of its time.
Laconism of the Constitution requires sufficient lev­ el of competence of the reader and allows to reach reasonable political agreements in the interpretation of its provisions.
By this quality the Con­ stitution nicely differs from the majority of heavy, voluminous and non­ flexible provisions of the modern laws.
The Constitution is not a mere formal text of the law.
It is a depiction of concrete historical, political and legal conditions interpreted by the law.
The Constitution has provided the implementation of the principle of de­ mocracy and lawfulness, the equality of all nations in Latvia.
The Consti­tution is the result of tough political compromises, and Jānis Čakste, Fēlikss Cielēns, Arveds Bergs, Marģers Skujenieks, Fricis Menders and many others should be considered as the fathers of it.
Up to now the Constitution has passed the test of time.
Nowadays only two fundamental supplementations and amendments have been made to it.
In 1996 the idea about the Constitutional Court was implemented that was suggested already in the 30ies of the 20th century, which assesses the con­ formity of the laws to the Constitution.
In 1998 the political mistake that was made in 1921 was corrected, and chapter about human rights was add­ ed to the Constitution.
These improvements mainly provided the conformity of the Constitu­ tion to the modern requirements.
Although any constitution has to be cur­ rent and correspond to the cognitions of the century, amendments must not be coincidental, fragmentary and such that could not be carried by the foundations laid by the fathers of the Constitution.
State President
Andris Bērziņš
Preface of the Speaker of the Saeima
The outstanding scientist and professor of civil law Vasily Sinaisky once wrote that constitution is an agreement between all citizens, even a monument in a way, next to which all passions calm down.
He emphasized that constitution is the mandatory minimum of peace for everyone, without which neither the existence of law­governed state, nor the development of culture is possible.
It appears to me that these words sound topical also today – already more than twenty years after the actual restoration of independence and ninety years after adopting the Constitution of our country.
During this time Constitution of the Republic of Latvia has really become a monument to the efforts of our nation towards independence and desire to live in a free, democratic and lawful country.
In close cooperation with other nations of Europe and based on simple values – the subordination of state authority to the Law, human rights and justice.
When opening the Constitution, its authors have to be recalled every time – those, who ruled the future of the state awarded with a trust mandate by the nation of Latvia, as well as those, who worked and fought investing unselfish work, self­sacrifice and unbreakable belief in the future of Latvia for us to have our own country and rights to rule our destiny.
In the Constitution echoes can be observed from the time period, when the Neo­ Latvian Movement was formed and when Kri jānis Valdemārs with sharp pride declared in the German Baltics that he was a Latvian.
The Constitution gives evidence of the romantic dreams of the New Stream about a fairer and better social order and of the unstoppable force of the 1905 Revolution.
The Constitution has been brought into existence by the battalions of Latvian Riflemen and the army of the new state formed during the Fight for Freedom that proved the possibility of the future of Latvia and fought our own country.
I think that it is important to emphasize that in the Fight for Freedom for the country of Latvia not only Latvians took part.
The country of Latvia would not exist without the support from the minorities who lived there and who took part in defending the new country.
While writing the Constitution, along the voices of Latvians also the opinions of deputies of Latvian Constitutional Assembly representing the minorities were expressed.
Also, we can proudly mention that the outstanding German­ Baltic lawyer and politician Paul Schiemann has taken part in the polishing of the Constitution.
When opening the Constitution we cannot forget our destinies.
The bright and intellectual Latvia that was broken by the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century.
During this period of darkness the Constitution became a reminder and a sign of hope for the lost Latvia that we could not give up and that we had to continue to believe and fight.
That part of the Latvian society, which agreed neither with the Hitler’s Third Reich nor the Stalin’s Empire, was the one that fought for the ideas of the Constitution.
But for the national partisans and later on for dissidents the word “Constitution” merely served as an inspiring reminder that an independent country of Latvia was possible.
This year our Constitution celebrates only its ninetieth anniversary.
Looking at our neighbours right across the borders that have accepted new and modern constitutions, it might seem that we have fallen behind and that we should hastily consider new state basic law.
But I would like to remind – the Constitution is not only the past.
The Constitution is the country of Latvia itself – it is always as valuable and necessary, as necessary we believe it is.
It is always as modern and open to innovations, as much as we ourselves are ready to change along the time.
Already today Constitution is the sign of our identity and culture.
The same way as folk songs and patterns of Lielvārde belt never get old, I believe that also our Constitution will never become out­of­date.
Each new generation will find its words and ideas in it, and each new generation will write the Constitution anew by their daily lives, by their attitude towards the country and towards the values of a democratic, lawful country.
Speaker of the Saeima
Solvita Āboltiņa,
At some point in history every nation comes to the conclusion that it shares joint interests and values that should also be jointly protected.
For this purpose the nation itself forms its country and defines the basic foundations for its existence, writing all of it in the basic law of the country – the constitution.
“The people of Latvia, in freely elected Constitutional Assembly, have adopted the following State Constitution” – these are the opening words of the basic law of Latvia.