The young woman in folk costume who once graced the 5-lat coin in pre-war Latvia might return someday to the nation’s version of a euro coin. The suggested design is part of the winning entry in a contest to conceptualize what Latvia’s eight euro coins might look like, the Bank of Latvia announced Aug. 16.

Ilze Kalniņa of Jēkabpils won the LVL 1,000 top prize in the contest. She suggested that Latvia’s version of the 2 euro coin display the picture of the woman from the old silver coin, popularly known as the “Milda.” Kalniņa also suggested that a picture of the Freedom Monument appear on the 1-euro coin and that Latvia’s coat of arms appear on lesser denominations.

A total of eight euro coins are used in the European Union, the 1-, 2-, 5-, 10-, 20- and 50-cent coins, as well as the 1- and 2-euro coins. They share a common side, but have different national sides, according to the European Central Bank.

Kalniņa’s concept was selected by a jury from a total of 1,088 entries received from January to April, the bank said.

The bank said the design concept might be modified during discussions with the mint. The earliest the coins might appear, if Latvia is deemed ready to switch to the euro, is January 2008.

A picture of the woman in folk costume appears on the current 500-lat banknote.

A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier who was born in Latvia has died during combat in Iraq. Capt. Michael Yury Tarlavsky, 30, was based at Fort Campbell, Ky., military and media reports said.

Tarlavsky died Aug. 12 in Najaf, Iraq, when his unit came under small arms fire and grenade attack, the Department of Defense said in a press release. He served with the 1st Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group, based at Fort Campbell.

Tarlavsky’s family emigrated from Latvia when he was five years old. In 1979 they settled in Clifton, N.J., the Bergen County Record reported, quoting family members.

Tarlavsky graduated from Rutgers University in 1996. He served in Korea and Hawaii before being assigned to Iraq. He was married two years ago and had a young son.

A plan for a monument to honor Latvian Displaced Persons who once lived in the Senatobia, Miss., area has been granted an initial approval by the board of aldermen, according to The Democrat, a local newspaper.

City officials Aug. 3 gave local resident Gale Cushman approval to research the cost of a marker to be erected in Bethesda Cemetery, where a number of Latvians are buried, the newspaper reported.

Senatobia is in northern Mississippi, about 40 miles south of Memphis, Tenn.

Although the Latvian community of Senatobia is all but forgotten today, it once was large enough to support a church and a local newsletter, according to historical records reviewed by Latvians Online.

The Senatobia Christian Church, once known as the Senatobia Latvian Lutheran Church, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1996. The Latvian church published a newsletter, Ziņu biļetens, from 1949-1953, according to Benjamiņš Jēgers’ Latviešu trimdas izdevumu bibliografija, 1940-1960.