The Russian Institute of University Sciences in Interwar Latvia

In order to maintain the Russian educa­tion and culture in exile, on October 16, 1921, the Russian University Courses (further - RUC) were established by local Russian intellectuals.

On 1930 their name was changed to The Russian Institute of University Sciences (further —RIUS). This educational institution consisted of three faculties: faculty of law; faculty of history and philology and faculty of commercial scienc­es and economics. The department of pedagogy was created as a separate structure within the in­stitute, too. Many wellknown scholars like Profes­sors K. Arabazin (till his death was the Rector of RUC), V. Sinaisky, R. Vipers, B. Brezgo, P. Mincs, K. Balodis, Private docent T. Celms as well as Lecturers K. Cakste and Z. Maurina worked at the institute at different periods of time. The le­gal environment of 1920s and early 1930s was relatively favourable for such an institution, as the autonomy in education for national minori­ties was guaranteed by the Latvian State.

Despite the fact that diplomas issued by RUC and RIUS were never regarded as equal to ones issued by University of Latvia, many Rus­sians and Russian speaking people in Latvia felt pretty confident in choosing this institution for their studies. Vast majority of them did not know Latvian at sufficient level for studies in Univer­sity of Latvia; others again simply preferred to continue education in their native — Russian, language.