On Thursday, the 15th of February, Riga City Council’s Finance and Administrative Affairs Committee supported changing the names of Maskavas, Lomonosova, Puškina, Gogoļa, Ļermontova and Turgeņeva streets.
The final decision will need to be made at a meeting of the city council.
“This means we have basically overcome all opinion obstacles to make sure there are no more streets carrying the names of Russia’s imperialistic ideology in Riga. Maskavas Street is one of the central streets in Riga, and its name is an incorrect signal to local and international communities. It’s current name undermines our national position and statehood. Riga carries the idea of a national city. This needs to coordinate with actions. I thank our colleagues for finding a compromise with new street names. Now we need to make the final administrative steps to make sure new plaques with new street names appear on on the map and on buildings,” says vice-mayor of Riga Edvards Ratnieks.
Maskavas Street is planned to be renamed into Latgales Street, which was once the historical name of this street.
But because Riga already has a small street named after Latgale, an appropriate renaming is needed. One suggestion is naming the smaller street into Jānis Klīdzējs Street. Jānis Klīdzējs was a Latvian writer and poet from Latgale, “The Child of Man” was film directed by Jānis Streičs based on one of his novels.
The small portion of Maskavas Street from the 13th January Street to the Island Bridge (Lāčplēsis Street) is planned to be renamed into Lastādijas Street. This is meant to be done for the security of residents, so that operational services are not accidentally dispatched to previous addresses.
Puškina Street is planned to be renamed after Latvian linguist Kārlis Mīlenbahs. Turgeneva Street is planned to be renamed after Latvian painter Vilhelms Purvītis. Lermontova Street is planned to be renamed after Latvian poet Viļis Plūdonis. Gogoļa Street is planned to be renamed after Latvian journalist, publicist and public activist Emīlijas Benjamiņa. Lomonosova Street is planned to be renamed after Valērija Seile, who was the first woman in Latvian government.
The Tipogrāfijas Street is planned to be renamed as Augusts Spariņš Street – military man (pilot) who participated in driving the Bermondt-Avalov forces from Pārdaugava.
According to Ratnieks, new street names prove that for years streets were no named after people who shaped Latvia’s identity. These names, according to him, show respect to the these people for their accomplishments and contribution to the development of Latvia.
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