This year the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts has been awarded to Alvis Hermanis, director of the New Riga Theatre, for creative achievement in staging several plays, especially Oblomov. The award ceremony of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science, as well the Baltic Assembly medals for upholding the unity and cooperation of the Baltic States, took place during the 33rd Session of the Baltic Assembly on Thursday, 23 October in Tallinn, Estonia.

The Prize for Literature was awarded to Estonian writer Peeter Sauter for his short story “Do Not Leave Me Alone” (Ära jäta mind rahule).

The Prize for Science was awarded to Lithuanian professor Dr. habil. Juozas Vidas Gražulevičius for his outstanding achievements in materials chemistry and engineering, as well as for his active collaboration with scientific partners from the Baltic States in initiating and implementing research projects.

Since the Baltic Assembly Prize was established in 1994, it has been awarded to several well-known persons in the fields of culture, science and the arts. In 2013, the Prize for Science was awarded to scientist Renāte Blūmberga for her research based on materials gathered during scientific expeditions and from archives on the history and culture of the Livs - the other indigenous people of Latvia. The Prize for Literature was awarded to to Donaldas Kajokas, Lithuanian poet, essayist, prose writer, nominated for his poetry collection To the Deaf Little Donkey (Kurčiam asiliukui) and the novel The Lake and Its Escorting Persons (Ežeras ir kiti jį lydintys asmenys). Last year, the Prize for the Arts was awarded to Estonian composer Peeter Vähi for the oratorio Maria Magdalena, which consists of Gospel texts in the original Coptic language.

The Baltic Assembly medals for upholding the unity and cooperation of the Baltic States were also presented on Thursday. They were presented to Ojārs Ēriks Kalniņš, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Saeima; Vitālijs Orlovs, Vice Chairman of the Welfare Committee of the Baltic Assembly; and Jānis Ādamsons, Vice Chairman of the Legal Affairs and Security Committee of the Baltic Assembly.

The medals were also presented to Estonian politician Urmas Paet, who has served as Estonia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2005; Hannes Astok, Estonian politician, journalist and Director of the E-Governance Academy; as well as to Seppo Zetterberg, professor of history and expert and researcher on the history of the Baltic States.

The Baltic Assembly medals were also presented to Donatas Jurgaitis, Acting Rector of Šiauliai University; Vytautas Ruzgas, Director of the Institute of Agriculture at the Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry; and Dalia Šatkovskienė, physicist at Vilnius University.  


Saeima Press Service