Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija (''Latvian Scout and Guide Central Organization,'' LSGCO) is the primary national

Scouting Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...

and Guiding organisation of

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and a member of both the

World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS ) is a global association that supports Girl Guides, female-oriented and female-only Guiding and Scouting organizations in 153 countries. It was established in the year 1928 in Parád, H ...

and the

World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...

. The organization had 759 members as of 2011 (466 Scouts and 293 Guides). Scouting activities began in Latvia in 1917 when the area was still part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. After independence in 1918, the national organization was established and Scouting thrived in Latvia in the 1920s-1930s. Upon the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940, Scouting was suppressed and not re-established until 1990, when Latvia regained its independence.

History

The Latvian Scouting program is based on the principles and methods created by

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

.John S. Wilson (1959), Scouting Round the World. First edition, Blandford Press. p. 159 The first Scout troop in Latvia was established on April 17, 1917, under Tsarist Russia by Arvīds Bredermanis and other Scouts from

Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 97,759 (as of 2024). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of Riga, Latvia. Tartu lies on the Emajõgi river, which connects the ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

, followed by several other Scout troops in the

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

area. The national scouting organization was founded in 1918 upon Latvia's independence from Tsarist Russia and its centennial was officially celebrated in 2018. The Latvian Scout Organization (''Latvijas Skautu Organizācija'') was established in 1921, and Latvia was a founding member of the World Organization, from 1922 to 1940. Guiding began in Latvia in 1921 under Latvian Youth Organizations. In early 1922 The Latvian Guide Central Organization (''Latvijas Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija)'' was set up, and

Girl Guiding A Girl Guide or Girl Scout is a member of a section of some Guiding organisations who is between the ages of 10 and 14. Age limits are different in each organisation. Girl Scouts and Girl Scout organizations already existed in Britain and ...

was permitted to operate independently. By the 1930s, the Latvian Scouting and Guiding movements had grown to more than eight thousand members. In early August, 1933, Latvian Scouts attended the

4th World Scout Jamboree The 4th World Scout Jamboree (Hungarian language, Hungarian: ''4. Cserkész Világdzsembori''), a gathering of Boy Scouts from all over the world, was hosted by Hungary and held from 2 to 13 August 1933. It was attended by 25,792 Boy Scout, Scou ...

in Hungary, along with boys from the other

Baltic states The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

. Following the Jamboree, Latvia enjoyed a visit from

, World Chief Scout and

Olave Baden-Powell Olave St Clair Baden-Powell, Baroness Baden-Powell (; 22 February 1889 – 25 June 1977) was the first Chief Guide for Britain and the wife of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell (the founder of Scouting and co-founder of Girl Guides). ...

, World

Chief Guide In the Guide Movement, a Chief Guide is the uniformed head of a national Guiding organisation. Olave Baden-Powell, wife of Robert Baden Powell became the first Chief Guide in 1918. World Chief Guide 1930 - 1977 Olave Baden-Powell (only holder o ...

on August 18, 1933, during their Baltic goodwill cruise on the '' SS Calgaric''. In 1937, Scouts from Latvia attended the

5th World Scout Jamboree The 5th World Scout Jamboree (Dutch: ''5e Wereldjamboree'') was the World Scout Jamboree where 81-year-old Robert Baden-Powell gave his farewell. Organizational details The Jamboree in Vogelenzang, Bloemendaal in the Netherlands was opened on 31 ...

in the Netherlands, which would be the last such pre-war gathering and the final one attended by Baden-Powell. In 1940, after the Soviet occupation of Latvia, Scouting and Guiding were banned and a special officer was appointed by the communists to abolish Scouting. Scouting continued unofficially, underground, operating without uniforms and in the forests to avoid detection. In 1941, the Communists killed the Latvian Scout founder and President, General

Kārlis Goppers Kārlis Goppers (; April 2, 1876 – March 25, 1941) was a Russian and Latvian military officer, veteran of World War I and the Russian Civil War and the founder and President of Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrālā Organizācija (Latvian Scout an ...

(1876–1941). The former Scout Commissioner for Latvia,

Valdemārs Klētnieks Valdemārs Klētnieks (December 4, 1905August 17, 1968), also known as Voldemārs Klētnieks and Valdis Klētnieks, was a Latvian writer and national Scout Commissioner for Latvia before World War II. When the Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940 ...

, was in a German

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of perse ...

s camp during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Following the end of the war, he came to the United States as a refugee, initially given shelter by a

Boy Scouts of America Scouting America is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest List of youth organizations, youth organizations in the United States, with over 1 million youth, including nearly 200,000 female participants. Founded as the Boy Sco ...

official,

E. Urner Goodman Edward Urner Goodman (May 15, 1891 – March 13, 1980) was an influential leader in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) movement for much of the twentieth century. Goodman was the national program director from 1931 until 1951, during the organiz ...

, at his Vermont home. In December, 1950, the Klētnieks family appeared at a

Brattleboro, Vermont Brattleboro (), originally Brattleborough, is a New England town, town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located about north of the Massachusetts state line at the confluence of Vermont's West River (Vermont), West River and the Connec ...

, church, where they spoke of their wartime experiences as exiles and recalled Christmas in Latvia, singing the songs of their homeland. With the fall of communism, Scouting reemerged, and in 1989, a camp was organized. In 1990, Latvian Scouts held their fifth National Jamboree, "Renewal" and invited several other countries to participate. The Latvian Scout and Guide Central Organization rejoined the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) in 1993, as well as the

. Since then, the Latvian organization has participated in several international projects all around the world.

References

External links

Official website (in Latvian and English)

"Always Prepared! — 100 Years of Latvian Scouting"
official documentary produced in 2018 on the centenary of Scouting in Latvia (video in Latvian with English subtitles) {{DEFAULTSORT:Latvijas Skautu un Gaidu Centrala Organizacija World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts member organizations World Organization of the Scout Movement member organizations Scouting and Guiding in Latvia Organizations established in 1990

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links