Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga

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Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga 2017

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga [ ˈvaira ˈviːce ˈfreiberga ] (born December 1, 1937 in Riga , Latvia ) was President of Latvia from 1999 to 2007 . She was first elected in 1999 and confirmed in office in 2003, on July 8, 2007 she was replaced by Valdis Zatlers .

Life

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga's parents were war refugees . The family left Latvia in 1944 and lived in different countries in the following years: Germany , Morocco and Canada . In Canada, Vīķe-Freiberga studied at the Universities of Toronto and McGill University , where she received her doctorate in psychology in 1965 .

Between 1965 and 1998 she taught as a professor of psychology at the University of Montreal . During this time she was active with her mother in the Latvian community of Canada, a large part of her research revolving around the traditional Latvian dainas . She received five honorary doctorates and other prestigious awards.

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

In December 2007, the former president was appointed vice-chair of the newly created “reflection group” of the European Union (also known as the Council of Wise Men ). The Council deals with questions relating to the future development of the EU.

Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is fluent in several languages, including Latvian, English, French and German. She is married to Imants Freibergs, a computer scientist and computer science professor at McGill University and the Université du Québec . The couple have two children, Kārlis and Indra.

politics

The non-party president ensured that Latvia was clearly orientated towards the West and tried to get her country to join NATO and the EU.

She is currently the chair of the Club de Madrid , an association of former government leaders and presidents.

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; 4). Kingston [u. a.]: McGill-Queen's Univ. Press 1989. ISBN 0-7735-0661-6 . ( english )
  • Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga: Dzintara kalnā: apceres par latviešu tautasdziesmām. Rīga: Zvaigzne 1993. ISBN 5-405-00949-0 . (Book on Latvian folk songs, Latvian )
  • Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga: Trejādas saules, hronoloģiskā saule. Rīga: Karogs 1999. ISBN 9984-505-52-9 . (German: "The Triple Sun", Latvian )
  • Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga: Saules zīme. 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 - partners in a united Europe. in: Industrieclub Düsseldorf, issue 15/2001.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d From child refugee to president: Latvia's Vaira Vike-Freiberga ( BBC News , English, August 4, 2019)
  2. ↑ netzeitung.de González heads the “Council of Wise Men” of the EU ( Memento from October 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

literature

  • Ausma Cimdiņa: In the name of freedom: President of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga. A biography. Rīga: Jumava 2003. ISBN 9984-05-685-6 . ( english )
  • Nadine Vitols Dixon: Le parcours d'une vie: Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Présidente de Lettonie. Rīga: Pētergailis 2005. ISBN 9984-33-141-5 . ( french )

See also

Web links

Commons : Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga  - album with pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Vīķe-Freiberga, Vaira
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Latvian university professor and politician, president
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1937
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga , Latvia