Vike-Freiberga, Vaira (1937–)
Vike-Freiberga, Vaira (1937–)
President of Latvia. Name variations: Vaira Vîke-Freiberga; Vaira Vike-Freibergs. Born in Riga, Latvia, on Dec 1, 1937; dau. of Karlis and Annemarie (Rankis) Vike; University of Toronto, BA, 1958, MA, 1960; McGill University, PhD, 1965; m. Imants F. Freibergs, on July 16, 1960; children: Karl Robert; Indra Karoline.
During WWII, immigrated with family to Canada; was a clinical psychologist at Toronto Psychiatric Hospital (1960–61); was an assistant professor, department of psychology, at University of Montreal (1965–72), then associate professor (1972–77) and became professor (1977); became an expert in Latvian folklore and culture, and lobbied Western governments not to recognize the annexation of the Baltics by the Soviet Union; was director of Latvian Youth Ethnic Heritage Seminars Divreiizdivi (1979) and president of the Social Science Federation of Canada (1980); served as chair of NATO special program panel on human factors (1980); returned to Latvia; was sworn in as president of Latvia (July 8, 1999), the 1st democratically elected woman president in Eastern Europe; reelected (2003).
See also Women in World History.