Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija

Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija (Latvian Scout and Guide Central Organization, LSGCO) is the primary national Scouting and Guiding organisation of Latvia and a member of both the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The organization had 759 members as of 2011 (466 Scouts[1] and 293 Guides). Scouting activities began in Latvia in 1917 when the area was still part of the Russian Empire. After independence in 1918, the national organization was established and Scouting thrived in Latvia in the 1920s-1930s. Upon the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Scouting was suppressed and not re-established until 1990, when Latvia regained its independence.

Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija
Latvian Scout and Guide Central Organization
HeadquartersKalpaka bulvāris 10-18
LocationRiga
Country Latvia
Founded1917/1990
Membership759
AffiliationWorld Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Organization of the Scout Movement
Website
http://www.skauti.lv

History

The Latvian Scouting program is based on the principles and methods created by Robert Baden-Powell.[2] The first Scout troop in Latvia was established on April 17, 1917, under Tsarist Russia by Arvīds Bredermanis and other Scouts from Tartu, Estonia, followed by several other Scout troops in the Riga area. The national scouting organization was founded in 1918 upon Latvia's independence from Tsarist Russia and its centennial was officially celebrated in 2018.[3]

The Latvian Scout Organization (Latvijas Skautu Organizācija) was established in 1921, and Latvia was a founding member of the World Organization, from 1922 to 1940. Guiding began in Latvia in 1921 under Latvian Youth Organizations. In early 1922 The Latvian Guide Central Organization (Latvijas Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija) was set up, and Girl Guiding was permitted to operate independently. By the 1930s, the Latvian Scouting and Guiding movements had grown to more than eight thousand members.[3] In early August, 1933, Latvian Scouts attended the 4th World Scout Jamboree in Hungary, along with boys from the other Baltic states. Following the Jamboree, Latvia enjoyed a visit from Robert Baden-Powell, World Chief Scout and Olave Baden-Powell, World Chief Guide on August 18, 1933, during their Baltic goodwill cruise on the SS Calgaric.[4] [2] In 1937, Scouts from Latvia attended the 5th World Scout Jamboree in the Netherlands, which would be the last such pre-war gathering and the final one attended by Baden-Powell.

In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Scouting and Guiding were banned and a special officer was appointed by the communists to abolish Scouting. Scouting continued unofficially, underground, operating without uniforms and in the forests to avoid detection. In 1941, the Communists killed the Latvian Scout founder and President, General Kārlis Goppers (1876–1941). The former Scout Commissioner for Latvia, Valdemārs Klētnieks, was in a German displaced persons camp during World War II. Following the end of the war, he came to the United States as a refugee, initially given shelter by a Boy Scouts of America official, E. Urner Goodman, at his Vermont home.[5] In December, 1950, the Klētnieks family appeared at a Brattleboro, Vermont, church, where they spoke of their wartime experiences as exiles and recalled Christmas in Latvia, singing the songs of their homeland.[6]

With the fall of communism, Scouting reemerged, and in 1989, a camp was organized. In 1990, Latvian Scouts held their fifth National Jamboree, "Renewal" and invited several other countries to participate. The Latvian Scout and Guide Central Organization rejoined the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in 1993, as well as the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Since then, the Latvian organization has participated in several international projects all around the world.[7][8][9][10]

See also

References
  1. "Triennal review: Census as at 1 December 2010" (PDF). World Organization of the Scout Movement. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-13.
  2. John S. Wilson (1959), Scouting Round the World. First edition, Blandford Press. p. 159
  3. Always Prepared! — 100 Years of Latvian Scouting. Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija. 2018. Event occurs at 2:43. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  4. Klētnieks, Valdemārs (1960). Latviešu Skautisma Cetrdesmit Gadi 1917-1957. p. 118.
  5. Goodman, E. Urner (1965). The Building of a Life. St. Augustine, Fla.: Standard Printing.. Goodman, who was National Program Director of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in the 1940s and the founder of the Order of the Arrow, and his wife took in the exiled Latvian Scout Commissioner, Valdemārs Klētnieks, and his family at their Vermont farm. As of 2006, Klētnieks' grandson and great-grandson were members of the BSA and his daughter lived in Riga.
  6. "All Souls Church". Brattleboro Reformer. December 15, 1950. p. 5. Retrieved August 15, 2020.
  7. Inge Pamminger (1999). "Partnerland Lettland". PPÖ-Brief (in German). Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs. 3/1999: 29–30.
  8. Irene Rojnik;Marlies Honnegger-Jünnemann (2000). "Partnerschaft:Lettland-Luxemburg-Österreich". PPÖ-Brief (in German). Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs. 3/2000: 22.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  9. Christa Stadler (2000). "Jugendtreffen Österreich-Lettland". PPÖ-Brief (in German). Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs. 2/2000: 19.
  10. b.open daily (2001). "lagerplan/map". B.open Daily (in German and English). Pfadfinder und Pfadfinderinnen Österreichs.

Further reading
  • World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, World Bureau (2002), Trefoil Round the World. Eleventh Edition 1997. ISBN 0-900827-75-0
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