Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science


The Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature, the Arts and Science is an award given annually by the Baltic Assembly for achievements in three categories: literature, art and science.
The prize is an annual award given to a citizen of Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania "for outstanding achievements" in three categories: literature, art and science. It was awarded for the first time in 1994 and consists of a statuette, a diploma and a sum of money, presently 5,000 euro. It is awarded during the formal session of the assembly. A joint jury consisting of three persons per prize make the decision on whom to award the prize. The purpose of the award is according to the Baltic Assembly to "demonstrate the common interests of the countries in this region in upholding of their national identity and self-esteem; create an opportunity to learn about the achievements of the neighbouring countries; maintain a continuous interest among the people in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania about developments in the Baltic States; strengthen cooperation among the Baltic States in the fields of literature, the arts and science; encourage more and more people to become interested in the intellectual values and languages of the Baltic nations; and raise the level of literature, the arts and science in the Baltic States."

List of recipients of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Literature

The following list is based on the official webpage of the Baltic Assembly.
YearRecipient of the awardCountryRationale
1994Tõnu Õnnepalu"for his novel "The Border Land""
1995Uldis Bērziņš"for his collections of poetry "Stepsounds of Insects", "Time" and "Poetry""
1996Judita Vaičiūnaitė"for her poetry collection "Wreaths of Zemyna""
1997Jaan Kaplinski"for the essays and poetry of the past three years"
1998Sigitas Geda"for the poetical metamorphoses during the past three years"
1999Jaan Kross"for his novel "Standstill Flight""
2000Jānis Rokpelnis"for his collection of poems "Lyrics", "
2001Justinas Marcinkevičius"for his recent lyrical poetry, particularly for the collection of poems "Carmina Minora""
2002Jaan Tätte"for his plays "The Bridge and Happy Everyday!""
2003Vytautas Bubnys"for his novel "In a Dove’s Flutter""
2004Pēters Brūveris"for his poetry book "The Landscape of Language" and publications during the past three years"
2005Hasso Krull"for his collection of poetry “Meeter ja Demeeter” "
2006Nora Ikstena"for her book "The Undefined One", and for the unique collaboration with the Latvian poet Imants Ziedonis, as well as for humanism and the significant work in the field of culture"
2007Marcelijus Martinaitis"for his books “K.B. Suspected” and “Silent discourses” "
2008Knuts Skujenieks"for his Works in eight volumes, which contain high-quality poetry of particular value, written in prison and in a camp for political prisoners in Mordovia, where poet as Soviet dissident, spent seven years"
2009Inga Ābele"for the novel “Paisums” "
2010Ene Mihkelson"for her collected poetry “Torn” "
2011Arvydas Juozaitis"for his book "Riga - No One's Civilization" "
2012Aivars Kļavis"for his tetralogy “On the Other Side of the Gate” "
2013Donaldas Kajokas"for his poetry “To the deaf little donkey”, 2011, and the novel “The Lake and its escorting persons”, 2012"
2014Peeter Sauter"for his novel “Do Not Leave Me Alone”, 2012"
2015Māris Bērziņš"for his novel “The Taste of Lead”, 2015"
2016Sigitas Parulskis"for his latest creative work, his broad and sharp worldview, his ability to grasp fundamental issues and his contemporary poetics"
2017Vladas Braziūnas"for his poetic discoveries made while delving into the Baltic worldview and the linguistic heritage of the Lithuanian, Latvian and other languages and as well as for his translations from Latvian and other languages and outstanding international projects on modern poetry"
2018Gundega Repše"for the idea and concept of the historical novel series “Us. Latvia. XX century”, the curating of the publication of 13 novels in the series, as well as for the novel “Bogene” as one of the novels in the series"

List of recipients of the Baltic Assembly Prize for the Arts

The following list is based on the official webpage of the Baltic Assembly.
YearRecipient of the awardCountryRationale
1994Eimuntas Nekrošius"for his stage productions of recent years "
1995Peeter Mudist"for paintings of the past two years"
1996Pēteris Vasks"for his Concerto for Cello and Symphony Orchestra, string music “Quasi una sonata” with piano solo, Third String Quartet and music for three poems of Czeslaw Milosz for a vocal group"
1997Gidons Krēmers"for promoting the musical culture of the Baltic States throughout the world"
1998Erkki-Sven Tüür"for the musical creativity during the past three years"
1999Mindaugas Bauzys"for the roles during the past three years which have revealed him as an artist-creator"
2000Veljo Tormis"for his compositions during the past three years"
2001Ilmars Blumbergs"for his creative achievements and originality of style presented in the set designs for Mozart’s "The Magic Flute" and the exhibition “Windows”"
2002Biruta Baumane"for her professional achievements demonstrated at a large-scale solo exhibition at the exhibition hall "Arsenāls" in 2002 and for her rich contribution to the development of painting, as well as for her autobiographical book "I Am Living" "
2003Jaan Toomik"for his creative work as artist and organiser of art activities in recent years"
2004Mindaugas Navakas"for promoting art processes in the Baltic States"
2005Vilnius String Quartet"for their particular understanding of cultural mission, consistent work and broad scope of their undertakings"
2006Andres Tali"for his works that touch existential problems of human life, and in the shallowness and rush of today's world find time and place for the most human questions of loneliness and relations, truth and lie"
2007Silvija Radzobe"for her contribution to preparing the book “Theatre Production in the Baltic States”, namely, for initiating, managing and executing this project"
2008Petras Vyšniauskas"for the presentation of the Baltic Jazz in the world, fruitful and intensive activity, important to the stage of Baltic Jazz and other genres, work comprising concert tours, teaching, recording and the preparation of various projects"
2009Marko Mäetamm"for his high professional and successful exhibitions and achievements of the last years on the Baltic and international scene"
2010Antanas Žukauskas"for professionally communicating the past values in fine art, striking the right balance between the modern and the traditional, and for promoting the Baltic identity in the world"
2011Andris Nelsons"for his outstanding achievements in promoting the performing arts and creating a positive image of Latvia and the Baltic States in the world"
2012Visible Solutions LLC"for the artistic achievements in integrating Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian art scenes into one arena of discussion"
2013Peeter Vähi"for composing the Oratorio „Maria Magdalena“, 2011, that is composed on gospel texts in original Coptic language"
2014Alvis Hermanis"for his creative directorial achievements conducting numerous theatre plays and particularly theatre play “Oblomow”, 2011"
2015Modestas Pitrėnas"for his creative endeavours to advance the idea of interaction amongst the cultures of all the three Baltic States and to further their cultural promotion on the European and global scale by conducting numerous plays and concerts in performance venues and theatres in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia"
2016Kristijonas Vildžiūnas"for his film “Seneca’s Day”, which is the first Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian co-production project "
2017Laima Slava"for the excellent professional contribution to the theory development of the art science, as well as for the outstanding achievement in the book publishing sector, especially in publishing of art books, which significantly have enriched the current cultural landscape and furthermore foster the international recognition of Latvian culture"
2018Jurgita Dronina"for her impressive performances on the greatest stages of the world"

List of recipients of the Baltic Assembly Prize for Science

The following list is based on the official webpage of the Baltic Assembly.
YearRecipient of the awardCountryRationale
1994Andris Caune"for research series on the history of Riga conducted in 1991-1994"
1995Juozas Kulys"for his research series on biochemistry and biophysics"
1996Juhan Maiste"for research series on “The Classical Tradition in Estonian Art: 1530-1830”"
1997Rimute Rimantiene"for archaeological investigations on the history and art of the Baltic States"
1998Jānis Krastiņš"for his achievements in researching Riga’s Art Nouveau architecture"
1999Janina Kursite"for the publications during the past three years and a monograph on the mythical elements in Baltic folklore, literature and art"
2000Silvestras Gaiziunas"for his scholarly work and activity in developing cultural ties among Baltic, Scandinavian and European nations"
2001Raimo Pullat"for his research works dealing with the history of Estonia, the Baltic States and towns in the 18th century and in 1917-1941"
2002Algirdas Gaizutis"for his significant contribution to art research and a book of essays "A Glance" "
2003Elita Grosmane"for her comprehensive scholarly monograph "Baroque Sculpture of Kurzeme: 1660-1740""
2004Arvo Krikmann"for his empirical research on the cognitive theory of figurative language “The Contribution of Contemporary Theory of Metaphor to Paremiology” and for presenting a theoretical concept relating to the developments in the theory of metaphor"
2005Evalds Mugurevics"for his research on the medieval chronicles about Livonia"
2006Gediminas Valkiūnas"for the monograph "Avian Malaria Parasites and Other Haemosporidia" and activities towards consolidation of links between parasitologists in the Baltic States and Scandinavian countries"
2007Tarmo Soomere"for his cycle of researches on analyses of ship waves in the Baltic Sea as a source of danger to the coastal environment"
2008Lembit Vaba"for researcher of the Baltic Sea language space, of the ancient Baltic loan words in Baltic-Finnish languages. He has compiled the English-Estonian-Latvian-Lithuanian-Russian Dictionary, mapped the Estonian-Latvian language border and rediscovered Estonian language enclaves in southern regions of Latvia"
2009Leonardas Sauka"for his „Eglė Žalčių Karalienė”, the fundamental study into the folklore heritage of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and other countries. The study strengthens the Baltic identity and enhances pride in the traditions of all the Baltic nations"
2010Jānis Stradiņš"for his book “The Beginnings of Science and Higher Education in Latvia” "
2011Andres Ilmar Kasekamp"for his volume "History of the Baltic States" "
2012Algis Petras Piskarskas"for his pioneering research in the field of laser physics and nonlinear optics, for development of innovative laser instruments and fruitful international collaboration in European area and world-wide"
2013Renāte Blumberga"for the research carried out using both archive materials and information gathered on expeditions on the topic of the history and cultural history of the Liv people, the second titular nationality of Latvia"
2014Vidas Gražulevičius"for his achievements in materials chemistry and engineering, for the active collaboration with the scientific partners from the Baltic States initiating and implementing research projects"
2015 Eva-Clarita Pettai and Vello Pettai"for their monograph “Transitional and Retrospective Justice in the Baltic States”"
2016Maija Dambrova"for her scientific work on energy metabolism and her contribution to research of the mechanisms of action of the metabolic drug meldonium"
2017Andres Metspalu"for his innovative, diverse and lasting contribution to gene technology and molecular diagnostic"
2017Els Heinsalu"for her significant contribution in the theory of complex systems and stochastic processes"