This paper examines how Latvian communities abroad reacted to and were influenced by a change of the first magnitude in the political life of their homeland, namely, the proclamation of the Republic of Latvia on November 18, 1918. News of the proclamation, first of all, necessitated diaspora Latvians choosing attitudes towards the new phenomenon, which highlighted the political pre‑dispositions of the different groups within the diaspora. Polarisation of opinions was followed shortly by a wave of activities both in support of and against the new Republic. These activities included gathering financial resources for war victims and state institutions in Latvia, public relations campaigns in diaspora host countries, political lobbying etc. The establishment of the Republic of Latvia also profoundly influenced and intensified the internal formation processes within the diaspora. A marked increase of activity is observable in all fields of engagement that are characteristic of an active ethno‑national diaspora: the internal organisational structure was further developed; contacts with the homeland intensified; mutual links between geographically distant diaspora groups became closer. The great political changes in the homeland gave the Latvian diaspora the push necessary to fully develop and become an active ethno‑national diaspora.

Newly collected and restudied earlier materials on an enigmatic fish Ventalepis ketleriensis Schultze, 1980

from the upper Famennian (postera – ? Lower expansa conodont zones) of Latvia and central and northwestern

Russia support its porolepiform affinities. A new family Ventalepididae fam. nova is established for this genus

upon a peculiar combination of characters, including scale structure and dermal bones ornamentation. New

records extend the distribution of this genus and the Ventalepis vertebrate assemblage on the whole to a vast

geographical zone along the south-eastern coast of the Old Red Sandstone continent. The habitat area of the

Devonian vertebrate assemblage over such a large territory within the zoogeographical province of Baltica is

established for the first time. Palaeozoogeographical analysis suggests Laurentian affinities of the Ventalepis

assemblage demonstrating the major congruency to the Belgian and East Greenland ones. These and Russian

localities are separated by a vast ORS continent. Presence of the dipnoan Jarvikia in all three locations, as well

as an Ichthyostega-like tetrapod in the Belgian one reveals palaeozoogeographical connections, which might

reflect possible dwelling not only in the near-shore continent periphery but also in the river systems of the

continent itself.

One of the direct results of the collapse of the former USSR was the emergence of centrifugal ethnic minority nationalisms, which posed a threat to the stability of the then newly-established (or restored in the case of the Baltic democracies) states. In this context, one of the mechanisms introduced by the leading elites in several countries (e.g. Latvia, Ukraine, Estonia, the Russian Federation) in order to address the minority diversity issue, ensure stability, and gain international support (in the case of the Baltic states) was a cultural autonomy scheme, which has its origins in the ideas of the late 19th century Austro-Marxist school of thought. This model was successfully implemented once in the past, in inter-war Estonia. However, its modern application, even in cases when it does not just remain on paper (such as in Latvia and Ukraine), seems to serve other motives (e.g. a restitutional framework in Estonia, control of the non-titular minority elites in Russia) rather than the satisfaction of minority cultural needs, thus making cultural autonomy a dead letter.

For a migrant, returning to his or her homeland after living abroad can be much anticipated, yet also daunting, especially if return includes other family members who may have little insight into the cultural traditions and life approaches of the homeland. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative evidence from interviews and a survey of both Latvian nationals living abroad and returnees to Latvia, the anxieties concerning first-generation family return with (mostly) second-generation children are unravelled – particularly the challenges faced by the children. The paper explores the difference between an imagined family return to the homeland and the lived experience. Anxieties especially concern children’s readiness for school – lack of home-country language skills, curriculum disparities and the often unsympathetic attitude of teaching staff towards returnee pupils. Preparation in advance, a resilient mindset and an avoidance of comparisons with the host country are found to reduce return anxiety for both parents and children and to ease (re)integration into the homeland setting. Home-country government initiatives offering support measures to returnees also help to mitigate the challenges of return.

Maria Manteuffel letters from the period 1844–1859 offer invaluable insights into the life of Polish gentry in the former Polish Livonia (Infl anty Polskie), incorporated into the Vitebsk Governorate of the Russian Empire. These letters of mother to her son Gustaw Manteuffel, student at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) who was to become one of great Polish historiographers of late 19th century, are an important historical source. Although they deal mainly with family matters, the mundane is interspersed with notes and comments which throw light on the Russian tax burdens and the social life of the aristocracy and the local gentry. An eye-catching feature of that correspondence is a string of Latvian (Latgalian) words and phrases which are interspersed into Maria Manteuffel’s sentences. There is not much we know about her life. Born in Wielony in 1811, she was heiress to the Drycany estate. In 1828 she married baron Jakub Manteuffel. Of their children only four sons survived to adulthood. Born into a Polish-Livonian family, Maria Manteuffel became a Polish patriot, patroness and sponsor of various patriotic initiatives. When the Drycany estate was sequestrated by the Russian authorities after the 1863 January Uprising, she moved to Lesno and later to Riga where she died in 1874. She was buried at Drycany beside her husband; in 1916 her son was buried in the same family vault.