Diplomat Jānis Ritenis dies at age 82

Andris Straumanis | 

Jānis Ritenis, who spent much of his life in exile in Australia only to become Latvia’s first ambassador to Denmark and subsequently the Minister of Welfare, has died in Latvia. He was 82.

Ritenis was born in 1925 in Dobele, Latvia.

From 1989 to 1990 he led the information bureau of the World Federation of Free Latvians. In 1990, as Latvia was increasingly pushing for independence from the Soviet Union, he established a representative office for his homeland in Denmark.

In November 1992, Ritenis became Latvia’s first ambassador to Denmark.

Foreign Minister Artis Pabriks, in a statement issued July 13, lauded the work Ritenis did in the area of foreign affairs.

“Latvia has lost a bright man of state,” he said. “The Latvian exile J. Ritenis’ investment is among those that in a very short time allowed the renewal of a fully functioning, professional foreign service.”

Ritenis was elected in 1993 to the 5th Saeima as a candidate of the Latvian Farmers’ Union (Latvijas Zemnieku savienība), but from 1994 until his term expired in 1995 was an independent deputy. While in the parliament, he served on the Justice Commission and the National Security Commission.

He served as Minister of Welfare from July 1993 to September 1994 in the government of Prime Minister Valdis Birkavs. In a 2005 study of Latvia’s welfare policy, Feliciana Rajevska noted that Ritenis attempted to introduce a pension plan in Latvia based on the Australian model. His attempts met with resistance within the ministry and in the parliament. As a result, Ritenis grew unpopular as a minister.

Subsequently, Ritenis became a state secretary in the Foreign Ministry and later became chairman of the Committee of Senior Officials for the Council of Baltic Sea States..

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Newspaper asks if Latvian’s castle is wonder of Florida

Andris Straumanis | 

A Florida newspaper is conducting an online poll to choose the seven wonders of the state, and one of the nominees is the famed Coral Castle created by Latvian immigrant Edward Leedskalnin.

The last day to vote is July 13.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel, based in Fort Lauderdale, asked for nominations from readers and narrowed the list to 14, according to its Web site.

Among the nominees is Leedskalnin’s castle-like garden made of coral. It took Leedskalnin 28 years, from 1923-1951, to complete the structure, which legend says is an homage to an unrequited love in his Latvian homeland. Her name was Agnes Scuffs, according to the official Web site of Coral Castle. Scuffs, who at the time was 16 years old, is said to have cancelled her pending marriage to Leedskalnin just one day before the wedding.

The property, in the south Florida community of Homestead, is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Rock star Billy Idol’s song “Sweet Sixteen” is based on Leedskalnin’s story. Idol’s music video for the song was filmed at Coral Castle.

Further information about the poll is available from the Sun-Sentinel.

Andris Straumanis is a special correspondent for and a co-founder of Latvians Online. From 2000–2012 he was editor of the website.

Communing with nature in Latvia

Daina Grosa | 

Cūkmens sticker

Stickers urging people to clean up after themselves when visiting state forests are part of the Cūkmens campaign.

If you are planning a trip to Latvia—or are already in Latvia—do you have an interest to be at one with nature? Where can you turn to find out the best picnic and fishing spots, childrens’  nature activity parks and other outdoor recreation areas? Mammadaba.lv, a literal translation of the term Mother Nature, is an initiative created by Latvijas valsts meži (Latvian State Forests, www.lvm.lv) that encourages travel to the countryside.

By countryside this state institution means the forests, the rivers, the lakes—not just the towns. The hope here is that locals as well as tourists will find these trips to the countryside enjoyable and will return and pass this information on to others. The Web site is great for ideas for the best spots for all kinds of activities, from the local Latvian favorites of berry picking, mushrooming, fishing, bird-watching and hunting to cycling routes, orienteering and nordic walking routes. So far there are around 300 areas of state-owned forest territory under the stewardship of Latvijas valsts meži that have been cleared for recreational public use.

If you’ve headed out to the woods but want to stay longer than just one day your best bet for accommodation options is Atputa laukos. The Web site is created by the country tourism association Lauku ceļotājs, which also publishes brochures that can be purchased in most bookstores. For more sites on the environment and various options for outdoor recreation have a look at the links page.

Latvijas valsts meži has also for the past two years been involved in a campaign to increase public awareness of the dumping of rubbish in Latvian forests. Cūkmens is the public face of this campaign, a litterer-turned-pig in a superman-style pink pig costume actively urging the public to clean up its act: “Nemēslo mežā! Par cuku pārvērtīsies!” (Don’t dump your rubbish in the forest! You’ll turn into a pig!). This year the campaign has focused on coastal rubbish dumping. Cūkmens has visited local school in coastal regions, educating the children as well as getting the public involved in cleaning up the coastline. Jāņi was another perfect target for a Cūkmens intervention; with so many people heading to the woods to celebrate, there has always been a tendency to leave the post-Jāņi waste behind. Learn more about the Cūkmens campaign and see video and listen to audio from the campaign at www.cukmens.lv.

School-aged children can learn more about the forests of Latvia by taking part in a program, Izzini mezu, a joint initiative of Latvian State Forests, the Foundation for Environmental Education and the Forest Development Fund. The patron of this program is Latvian writer and poet Imants Ziedonis. The aim is to teach kids the importance of the forest habitat from an ecological and cultural perspective in the early years to more complex concepts in the later years of their school life.

Details

Daina Gross is editor of Latvians Online. An Australian-Latvian she is also a migration researcher at the University of Latvia, PhD from the University of Sussex, formerly a member of the board of the World Federation of Free Latvians, author and translator/ editor/ proofreader from Latvian into English of an eclectic mix of publications of different genres.