Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga GCB OQ | |
---|---|
6th President of Latvia | |
In office 8 July 1999 – 8 July 2007 | |
Prime Minister | Vilis Krištopans Andris Šķēle Andris Bērziņš Einars Repše Indulis Emsis Aigars Kalvītis |
Preceded by | Guntis Ulmanis |
Succeeded by | Valdis Zatlers |
Personal details | |
Born | Vaira Vīķe 1 December 1937 Riga, Latvia |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse | Imants Freibergs |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | University of Toronto McGill University |
Signature | |
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
Dr. Vaira Freiberga is a professor and interdisciplinary scholar, having published eleven books and numerous articles, essays and book chapters in addition to her extensive speaking engagements. As President of the Republic of Latvia 1999–2007, she was instrumental in achieving membership in the European Union and NATO for her country. She is active in international politics, was named Special Envoy to the Secretary General on United Nations reform and was official candidate for UN Secretary General in 2006.
She remains active in the international arena and continues to speak in defense of liberty, equality and social justice, and for the need of Europe to acknowledge the whole of its history. She is a well-known
After her presidency Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga serving as a Founding Co-Chair of the
Early life and education
Vaira Vīķe was born in
Vaira Vīķe attended
Professional life
From 1965 to 1998 Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga pursued a professorial career at the Department of Psychology of the French-speaking
During that period Dr. Vīķe-Freiberga held prominent positions in national and international scientific and scholarly organizations, as well as in a number of Canadian governmental, institutional, academic and interdisciplinary committees, where she acquired extensive administrative experience.[10] She is the recipient of many medals, prizes and honours for distinguished work in the humanities and social sciences.[11]
In June 1998 she was elected Professor emerita at the University of Montreal and returned to her native land, Latvia, after a 54-year absence. On 19 October the Prime Minister named her Director of the newly founded Latvian Institute.
President of Latvia
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga became President of Latvia in 1999. Although not a candidate in the first ballot, she was drafted by the Saeima (Latvian Parliament) and was elected to the office of President of Latvia on 20 June. She was sworn in on 8 July. Her approval rating ranged between 70% and 85%, and in 2003 she was re-elected for a second term of four years with 88 votes out of 96.
She actively exercised the powers conferred on the President by the Constitution of the Republic of Latvia. She also played a leading role in achieving Latvia's membership in NATO and the European Union. She was an invited speaker at numerous international events (such as the joint session of the United States Congress,[12] in June 2006), as well as an outspoken pundit on social issues, moral values, European historical dialogue, and democracy. During her presidency she regularly visited towns and villages to meet her constituents in person, and received many thousands of letters yearly from Latvians.
In April 2005, the
Post-presidency
Since the end of her presidency in July 2007, Dr. Vīķe-Freiberga has been actively participating as an invited speaker at a wide variety of international events. She is a founding member and former President of the
She was a candidate for the first permanent
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is a member of :
- the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organization composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organization officials who work closely with Heads of Government on governance-related issues of concern to them.
- the Fondation Chirac's honour committee,[16] ever since the foundation was launched in 2008 by former French president Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace. She also participates as jury member for the Prize for Conflict Prevention[17]awarded every year by this foundation.
- Vaira serves on the Leadership Council for Concordia, a nonpartisan, nonprofit based in New York City focused on promoting effective public-private collaboration to create a more prosperous and sustainable future.
- Vaira is the Member of Board of Thinkers of Boston Global Forum[18]
- Vaira is a member of the advisory board of the Prague European Summit.[19]
Medals and honors
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Vīķe-Freiberga has received many medals and awards, including the Golden Plate Award of the
National honours
- Order of Three Stars(8 July 1999)
- Latvia: Grand Cross of the Order of Viesturs (2007)
- Latvia: 1st Class of the Cross of Recognition (2007)
Foreign honours
- Azerbaijan: Recipient of the Dostlug Order (2015)
- Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold (2007)
- Quebec: Honorary Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2006)[23]
- Estonia:
- Collar of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana (2000)
- Collar of the Order of the White Star (2005)
- Finland: Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of the White Rose of Finland (2001)
- Germany: Grand Cross Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (2003)
- Italy: Knight Grand Cross with Collar of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (2004)
- Japan: Grand Cordon of the Order of the Chrysanthemum (2007)
- Lithuania: Grand Cross of the Order of Vytautas the Great (2001)
- Luxembourg: Grand Cross of the Order of Adolphe of Nassau (2006)
- Poland:
- Knight of the Order of the White Eagle (2003)
- First Class of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland (2005)
- Portugal: Grand Collar of the Order of Prince Henry (12 August 2003)[24]
- Norway: Grand Cross of the Order of St. Olav (2000)
- Spain: Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic (2004)[25]
- Royal Order of the Seraphim(2005)
- United Kingdom: Honorary Dame Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath (2006)
Awards
- Global Women's Leadership Award, Global Summit of Women (Berlin, Germany, 2007)
- The Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom (2011)
Other recognition
Four biographies about President Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga have been published (in Latvian, English, French, Finnish, Italian, Russian and Spanish), and a full-length documentary film The Threefold Sun in 2008.
Family and personal life
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga is married to Imants Freibergs, formerly a professor of computer sciences at the University of Quebec at Montreal. He was the President of the Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA) while his wife was President of Latvia. The couple met at the Latvian Students Club in Toronto. They have two children, Kārlis and Indra. Dr. Vīķe-Freiberga and Dr. I. Freibergs have founded a company “VVF Consulting” that offers consulting services to public and private organizations.
Selected works
- Vikis-Freibergs, Vaira, ed. (1989). Linguistics and Poetics of Latvian Folk Songs: Essays in Honour of the Sesquicentennial of the Birth of Kr. Barons. McGill–Queen's Studies in Ethnic History 4. Kingston, Ont.: McGill–Queen's University Press. OCLC 22859230.
- Vike-Freiberga, Vaira (2000). Latvia's Place in a New Europe. European Essay 13. London: Federal Trust for Education and Research. OCLC 45682632.
- Melngailis, Emīlis (2005). Vīķe-Freiberga, Vaira (ed.). Saules balsi: Latvian Sun Song Melodies (in Latvian and English). Riga: Karogs.
See also
- List of presidents of Latvia
References
- ^ "Danilo Türk is elected new President of Club de Madrid". World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid (in Spanish). 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
- ^ "Vaira Vike Freiberga, new World Leadership Alliance-Club de Madrid President". World Leadership Alliance - Club de Madrid (in Spanish). 2013-12-07. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
- ^ a b c Vaira Vike-Freiberga, a Canadian-European, The Economist, 21 August 1999
- ^ "Former Latvian president and Montreal professor on Putin: 'He's a narcissist and a psychopath' - National | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved 2022-03-11.
- ^ (in English) "Curriculum vitae of Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (until 1999)". Chancery of the President of Latvia. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ Vīķe-Freiberga, Vaira (1965). "Concept learning in hyperactive and normal children".
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(help) - ^ "Concept learning in hyperactive and normal children". Archived from the original on 2019-08-07. Retrieved 2018-05-16.
- PMID 5805741.
- ^ "Latvijas Valsts prezidenta mājas lapa". Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "Latvijas Valsts prezidenta mājas lapa". Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "Latvijas Valsts prezidenta mājas lapa". Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ (in English) Vīķe-Freiberga, Vaira (June 7, 2006). "Address to joint session of the United States Congress". Embassy of Latvia to the United States. Archived from the original on 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ (in English) "Latvian President named envoy to help promote Annan's reform agenda ahead of UN summit". UN News centre. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 2007-09-04.
- ^ "European Commission – Press release Digital Agenda: high-level group to discuss freedom and pluralism of the media across the EU". 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2011-10-16.
- ^ Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga (2009-11-21). "Focus on the big issues, not the bananas". The Times. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
- ^ "Honor Committee". Fondation Chirac. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "The Jury". Fondation Chirac. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "OCTOBER 3: Global Media and CyberTerrorism Conference". Bostonglobalforum.org. Archived from the original on 30 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "International Programme Board".
- American Academy of Achievement.
- ^ "2005 Summit Highlights Photo". 2005.
MIT President Dr. Susan Hockfield with a fellow member of the Academy, Her Excellency Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia, and her husband Imants Freibergs, during the reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- ^ "2006 Summit Highlights Photo". 2006.
Members of the Golden Plate Awards Council: President Bill Clinton with Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia.
- ^ "Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga smiles after receiving the National Order of Quebec during a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quebec city". Adobe Stock. Archived from the original on 2019-10-28. Retrieved 2019-10-28.
- ^ "CIDADÃOS ESTRANGEIROS AGRACIADOS COM ORDENS PORTUGUESAS - Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas". Ordens.presidencia.pt. Retrieved 14 May 2016.
- ^ "BOE.es - Documento BOE-A-2004-17853". Archived from the original on 2018-04-23. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
- ^ (in English) "Summary of publications by Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga". Chancery of the President of Latvia. Archived from the original on 2006-10-10. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
Further reading
- Torild Skard (2014) 'Vaira Vike-Freiberga' "Women of power - half a century of female presidents and prime ministers worldwide", Bristol: Policy Press ISBN 978-1-44731-578-0
- Vitols-Dixon, Nadine (2005) [2006]. A Life's journey: Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, President of Latvia. Riga: Pētergailis. ISBN 978-9984-33-174-4.
- Čaklais, Māris (2003) [2003]. Izaicinājums (in Latvian). Riga: Pētergailis. ISBN 978-9984-33-062-4.
- Cimdiņa, Ausma (2001) [2001]. Brīvības vārdā (in Latvian). Riga: Jumava. ISBN 978-9984-05-375-2.
External links
- Website of Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga
- Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga on Official website of the Chancery of the President of Latvia Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine
- Cosmopolis interview with President Vike-Freiberga[permanent dead link]
- Site in support of her candidature to head the European Council Archived 2018-08-07 at the Wayback Machine
- Appearances on C-SPAN