Some engineers who graduated from Riga Polytechnicum (RP) / Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI) linked their lives with maritime affairs – they built ships, trained future sailors, and managed the work of the Maritime Department. RP/RPI graduates and students have made significant contributions to maritime affairs in Russia, Latvia, Poland, and Germany. A course in shipbuilding was taught at RPI, which was later taken over by the University of Latvia (UL). RP graduate Professor Charles Clark (1867–1942) was one of the best-known and most prolific designers of ships, including the icebreaker «Krišjānis Valdemārs», until World War II; RPI graduate (1914) Admiral Teodors Spāde (1891–1970), Commander of the Latvian Navy (1931–1940), worked in Latvia in the interwar period. «Polytechnicians» headed the Maritime Department (1927–1939; 1942–1944) and worked as teachers in maritime schools, taught maritime-related courses at the University of Latvia, and wrote about maritime issues in the press.
Many notable personalities are buried at the Mārtiņš Cemetery in Riga, including those who have contributed to the development of engineering sciences. Several personalities are associated with Riga Polytechnicum (RP) / Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI). These are the founders of the RP, members of the Council, lecturers and former students. Nine individuals were identified during the research: one founder of the RP, two lecturers and four former students, one of whom was also a lecturer, and two graduates. The most well-known personalities are the Thilo family and the RP lecturer and entrepreneur Rudolph Heinrich Mantel (1853–1924). Monuments have survived for some of the buried, and their photographs are included in the article.
The article presents the results of research into the development of higher (tertiary) education in Chemical Engineering in former Yugoslavia. It focuses on the three oldest schools in the country, established during the interwar period at the Universities of Zagreb, Ljubljana, and Belgrade within the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovene / Yugoslavia. Although the oldest school of engineering, the University of Belgrade, was the last one to establish a chemical engineering programme after initially providing education in this field within the school of mechanical engineering. In contrast, universities in Zagreb and Ljubljana initiated these programs from their founding in 1919. The paper also explores the important role of foreign-educated chemical engineers who had their degrees formally recognised in Yugoslavia. This study contributes to the history of engineering/chemical engineering in former Yugoslavia.
The study reveals previously unknown facts about the Arnal family, who were well-known entrepreneurs and beverage producers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and their contribution to the Latvian economy – the production of mineral water, fruit powders, writing instruments (ink, typewriters, etc.), mustard, table vinegar and many other products, as well as their advertising in the press and at exhibitions. The descendants of the Arnal family studied at Riga Polytechnicum / Riga Polytechnic Institute. Family data have been compiled, revealing new and previously unknown personalities in the Latvian history. Additionally, facts have been uncovered about the family that lived in Latvia until 1940, when the Baltic German Arnals family emigrated.
The oldest technical university in Germany, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), celebrates its 200th anniversary in 2025. The Institute (then known as Karlsruhe Polytechnicum; KP, Polytechnikum Karlsruhe) was one of the models after which the predecessor of Riga Technical University (RTU), Riga Polytechnicum (RP), was founded in 1862. The oldest technical university in Latvia, Riga Technical University, has been closely associated with Karlsruhe engineers and scientists for over 160 years. Scientists, university lecturers, and engineers have collaborated, shared experiences, developed engineering sciences, and sought new opportunities for collaboration in science and university pedagogy. More than 80 former students of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have continued their studies in Karlsruhe, with some also serving as lecturers at the KP. At the end of the 20th century, RTU also established cooperation with the Karlsruhe University (KU).
One of the documents from the Soviet era that reflected information about a specific person’s skills, experience, and personal qualities was a personal characteristic. It was issued upon graduation from educational institutions, including eight-year schools, secondary schools, technical schools, and universities. Each graduate of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI) had at least two characteristics, which are stored in the student’s personal file in the archives of Riga Technical University (RTU). The number of characteristics was not limited, and some students also had other characteristics, such as recommendations for trips abroad. Personal files of faculty members had several characteristics in their personal files; they had been with RPI significantly longer than students, some even 30 years or more. Some of them had more than ten personal characteristics. Each time when faculty members were re-elected to positions, recommended for admission to postgraduate studies or for trips abroad, a characteristic was required, signed by the university administration, the leaders of the party or Komsomol organization, or the trade union committee. With the beginning of the Awakening and Latvia gaining independence, such a document was no longer required in universities. Nowadays, when applying for a job, a recommendation or letter of recommendation is often requested, which is, to some extent, comparable to the former characteristic. Research has shown that positive characteristics of people also contain elements of laudatio texts.
The article summarizes for the first time information about Lidija Ose (1922–1985), an architect of Soviet-era standard (typical) residential buildings and designer of built-in furniture, a graduate of the Faculty of Architecture of the Latvian State University (1952). It reflects the architect’s life and education, as well as her creative contribution during the period from the mid-1950s to the late 1970s when massive residential development took place and new standard multi-storey residential buildings were designed. The architect has contributed to the design, development, and construction of buildings of series M2, M3, 1-430, 1-316, 1-318, 103, 104, 119, and 467. L. Ose has also designed built-in kitchens, bathrooms, hallway furniture, building entrances, and interior and architectural elements (windows, balconies, doors, and their technical and structural details). Her work also includes cultural centres, clubs, cinemas, and a student dormitory. L. Ose has participated in several architectural design competitions, including for a sports centre on Lucavsala. Together with architects Marta Staņa (1913–1972), Imants Jākobsons (1934–1993), and Harolds Kanders (1927–2004), she participated in the design of the new building of the Daile Theatre at 75 Brīvības (then – Ļeņina) Street.
In the interwar period, an important sector of the national economy in Latvia was dairy farming, where both university graduates – engineers, and people without higher education worked. One of them – Pēteris Elksnītis (1879–1963), who learned the trade of a blacksmith in his youth and the trade of a technician through self-learning (1910), worked in the company of the Society of Riga Agricultural Central Union «Konsums», participated in establishing dairies, worked in the Department of Agriculture of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Latvia where he was responsible for agricultural technique, in the Technical Department of the Central Union of Dairy Farmers of Latvia where he was a Manager, participating in the construction and mechanization of dairies and in setting up milk processing points. In the interwar period, P. Elksnītis not only developed the projects of dairies and creameries and took care of their equipment but also obtained several patents for his inventions for milk processing equipment, potato harvesting, and laundry washing. Some patents related to dairy farming were bought and realized by entrepreneurs in Denmark. After an accident (1932), P. Elksnītis retired from paid work and returned to his home in Prauliena. In 1932, P. Elksnītis was awarded the highest award of the Latvian state – the Order of Three Stars.
In 2023, the author’s study «Early Engineers and Architects Born on the Territory of Present North Macedonia» was published in the RTU RCEH Scientific Journal «History of Engineering Sciences and Institutions of Higher Education» about the first engineers and architects who were born in the territory of present-day North Macedonia. This paper focuses on the life and work of the first state-appointed woman engineer architect in Yugoslavia in 1919, Jelena Tomić-Bokur (nee Tomić; 1889–1961), a graduate of the Technical Faculty of the University of Belgrade in 1913. The paper covers in brief her 24-year-long professional career between 1913 and 1937 in the Kingdom of Serbia and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes – Yugoslavia, with emphasis on her formation years in Skopje (1915–1923). This study contributes to the history of engineering and architecture in North Macedonia and wider whilst exploring the context in which the first women professionals emerged in Serbia and former Yugoslavia.
In the first decades of its existence, many foreigners worked at Riga Polytechnicum (RP), including one of the most internationally recognized lecturers and scientists, geodesist and hydrotechnician Heinrich Malcher (1848–1927), who continued to work at RP even after the reorganization of the university into Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI; 1896). For 20 years, the Professor was the Head of the Department of Engineering (1882–1902) of RP / RPI. In addition to his teaching work, H. Malcher designed the water pipeline for Jelgava (1881), led the creation of the first triangulation network of the city of Riga, dealt with the city’s sewage disposal issues, and was an active member of the Riga Technical Society. He spent his twilight years in the Czech Republic, in the village of Kujavy, where he created the first water distribution system and worked as a construction consultant and inspector.
The cooperation between Riga Technical University (RTU) and Dresden University of Technology (TUD; Technische Universität Dresden) is one of the oldest international partnerships in the history of both universities. It started more than a century and a half ago and continues today. The cooperation between the two universities has manifested itself in various ways – both by taking over the experience of the university as an institution and sharing it, and in student and lecturer exchange trips. Some engineers and lecturers have worked at the Technical University in Riga, while former residents of Riga have studied and worked in Dresden. Cooperation agreements between the two universities were concluded in the second half of the 20th century. The best students of the renovated Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI) continued their studies in Dresden and practiced in German companies. Both students and teaching staff went to TUD to exchange experiences. The long-term cooperation continues even today, including mutual congratulations on the anniversaries of universities and nominating scientists as Honorary Members of universities.
Based on the documents, the study provides a wide and comprehensive evaluation of the life of an engineer and citizen from Vidzeme Edgars Otto Pinka (1895–1941). His life was related to ships, military service in Latvia, Russia, and France, and the Latvian Society of Paris. Researching E. O. Pinka’s studies and work, the author has studied the engineer’s life from birth to the end of his life, reflecting on his progress as one of the best specialists in the Latvian Navy in his capacity of an engineer mechanic, shipping engineer, officer, and pedagogue. The contribution of E. O. Pinka to raising awareness about Latvia and Latvian music in France in the early 1930s is also significant. His daughter, a graduate (1964) of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI) Māra Pinka, inherited his interest in music. The article was developed by studying the collections of Latvian libraries, archives, and museums and communicating with the successors of E. O. Pinka’s family.
The research on Jānis Rupais (1889–1974), engineer, pedagogue, and graduate of the Department of Chemistry (1916) of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI), was conducted using the documents of the National Archives of Latvia, the Latvian State Historical Archive and the Latvian State Archives, as well as Gulbene Municipality Museum of History and Art. The article about the well-known pedagogue in Latvia in the 20th century – the long-term and only Principal of Gulbene State Commercial School and Vocational School (1926– 1944) J. Rupais also reflects on his activities after World War II at Riga Industrial Polytechnicum. It describes both the educational institutions, the principal and pedagogue J. Rupais and his work methods, and the contribution he made to Gulbene and Latvia.
The article considers the development of technical terminology in the Latvian language until the proclamation of the independent state of Latvia in 1918. The activists of the National Awakening became the first creators of technical terminology, describing current technical innovations as, for example, Juris Alunāns (1832–1864) did in 1860 for the telegraph. The need for technical terms became apparent after the Second Baltic Agricultural Exhibition when difficulties arose in describing the showcased exhibits in Latvian. Significant steps in the development of terminology were made on the initiative of student Mikus Skruzītis (also Skruzīšu Mikus; 1861–1905), who suggested collecting frequently used names of parts of various simple devices, and the initiative of Nikolajs Puriņš (also Puriņu Klāvs; 1858–1935) to publish self-education materials in construction («Būvskola» or Building School) and mechanical engineering («Mašīnu būvskola» or Machine Building School). As the proportion of Latvians employed in the industry and the number of persons who received technical education increased, the need to establish organizations that would take care of both technical education in Latvian and the coinage of the necessary terms became more apparent. The Baltic Technical Society (1906) and the Latvian Educational Society (1908), which established their own terminology committees, deserve special recognition. Encyclopaedic dictionaries were also important for the systematization of terminology, especially the conversational dictionary published by the Knowledge Committee of Riga Latvian Society (1903–1921). The research was carried out within the project «Mūsdienu latviešu valodas lietojums un attīstība» (Research on Modern Latvian Language and Development) of the National Research Program of the Latvian Council of Science (No. VPP-LETONIKA-2022/1-0001).
The pedagogical and scientific activity of a mechanical engineer, a faculty member (1897–1918) of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Professor (1904) Mikhail Berlov (Михаил Берлов; 1867–1935) at the end of the 19th century and in the first half of the 20th century was related to Riga, as well as the Russian city of Ivanovo-Voznesensk (at present – Ivanovo). M. Berlov was the first Rector of the Ivanovo-Voznesensk Polytechnic Institute (IVPI; 1918–1921), who returned to Riga in 1921, obtained Latvian citizenship, and worked at the Russian Technical School of Nikolai Okolo-Kulak. The research also revealed the contribution of the pedagogue and scientist to the compilation of textbooks that were used in the Russian Empire, including in the territory of present-day Latvia in the first half of the 20th century and in the first years of the Republic of Latvia.
Despite speculations long back in history, heavier-than air flight made its breakthrough during the first decade of the 20th century, based on the designs and practical experiments of at first a handful of constructors in Europe and the United States. Already by early 1911, the activities of several thousand aviators, including the constructors of airplanes, attracted not only wide public attention but also the interest of military establishments. The article analyzes significant data – nationality, profession, military rank, date and location of certification, location of airplane operations, domestic and foreign airplane types, and fatalities – for 13 369 constructors and aviators from 51 countries worldwide who were active between 1900 and 1914. Added to this group are the constructors of helicopters, ornithopters, gliders, and other flying apparatuses, resulting in a total of 14 142 individuals.
Honorary Doctor (Dr. h. c.) of the Latvian Academy of Sciences (LAS), long-time leading researcher of the Institute of Physical Energetics, Professor Voldemārs Dāle (1922–2008) devoted his entire working life to science. The most important field of V. Dāle’s research was the use of mathematical methods and computer technology in the dynamic optimization of power engineering development. The main areas of his scientific work include planning and forecasting methods of power system development; research on development problems of the Latvian and Baltic energy systems; methods of mathematical modelling of power systems considering the environmental factors. A monograph on research results in the optimization of electrical network development published in 1964 written by a group of three scientists, including V. Dāle, received the State Prize of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR), which was awarded in 1965.
