Latvia

On 21 May 2016, the President of Latvia, Raimonds Vējonis, opened the EUSTORY award ceremony in the White Hall of the “Riga Latvian Society House”. He expressed his gratitude to all students who researched their relatives’ or fellow citizens’ life stories in different periods of history, as well as to their teachers and parents, saying: "The time in which we live affects our options and choices, but it also determines our responsibility for our land and country. Without knowledge of history and respect for it, there is no future. Looking at you, competition winners, I am proud and I know that Latvia is in safe hands."

The topic of this year’s Latvian competition was “An Individual at the Crossroads of History”. 128 competition entries were sent in for evaluation; in total 146 students took part in the competition with 69 tutors having supported the young researchers. President Vējonis addressed the participants, their relatives and tutors: “The past century has brought many challenges for Latvia. Our parents and grandparents had to make difficult choices standing at the crossroads of life; they had to adopt bold decisions concerning both, their own lives and the State of Latvia and its future.”

All contestants and tutors received certificates of participation. “The Latvian Education Fund”, “The Support Fund of the Riga Latvian Society and National Culture”, the publishing house “Lauku Avīze”, “The Museum of the Occupation of Latvia” and “The State Archives of Latvia” awarded special prizes.

The ceremony concluded the 15th Latvian EUSTORY competition round. Over the last years, 2,580 students have participated and handed in 2,278 competition entries.

Watch a video by the Chancery of the President of Latvia featuring the award ceremony here.