Czechia - Latvia: Beyond 100 in the National Library of Latvia
Czechia - Latvia: Beyond 100 in the National Library of Latvia
01.10.2021 / 13:53 | Aktualizováno: 04.10.2021 / 08:19
On Thursday, September 30th, the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Latvia organised in a close cooperation with the National Library of Latvia a celebration to mark the centenary of Czech-Latvian diplomatic relations and the Czech Statehood Day.
During the afternoon-long celebration a conference „Czech-Latvian Relations in Historical Context” was held, followed by the opening of the exhibition „ The Legacy of J. A. Comenius to the World”. The first speaker of the opening ceremony, the external advisor to the President of Latvia on Historical Memory and Affiliation issues, Mr. Jurgis Klotinš, read a letter of President Egils Levits on friendly relations between Czechia and Latvia in the past century and even before. The host of the event, director of the National Library of Latvia, Mr Andris Vilks, also gave his opening speech and then the conference was officially started by short openings by Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Latvia Ms Jana Hynková and Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to Latvia Mr Ladislav Babčan.
The conference was addressed by the top Czech experts on mutual relations in the historical context, Mr. Luboš Švec and Mr. Pavel Štoll. Mr. Janis Krastinš, a laureate of the Gratias Agit award of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, gave a personal view of the relations. On the Latvian side, Mr. Janis Šilinš and Mr. Valdis Pirags spoke about influence of Comenius' work on education in Latvia and its importance for Latvian fraternal unity. All the speeches were highly appreciated by the professional public.
Following the conference and in presence of more than a hundred of distinguished guests an exhibition was launched. The exhibition, that was created in cooperation of the National Pedagogical Museum and the J. A. Comenius Library in Prague, presents in detail the life story of J. A. Comenius, introduces Comenius' groundbreaking pedagogical work and his still up to date textbooks, philosophical legacy and his reflection in art. The opening speech was delivered by Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Latvia Ms Jana Hynková who included a message from the author of the exhibition Ms Markéta Pánková. The exhibition was completed with some gems from the archives of the National Library of Latvia that were introduced by historian Ms Beáta Paškevica.
The conference and the opening of the exhibition were followed by a reception on the occasion of the Czech Statehood Day, which was attended by personalities of Latvian politics, culture and society, diplomats and representatives of international institutions as well as members of international NATO units, members of the association "Latvia – Czechia" and representatives as well as students of the University of Latvia.
From the right: A. Vilks, J. Klotinš, J.Hynková, L.Babčan
CZ-LV Beyond 100
CZ-LV Beyond 100
