2006 Press Releases
U.S. Ambassador Travels to Daugavpils for the Opening of Renovated Synagogue
Riga, April 10, 2006. – U.S. Ambassador to Latvia Catherine Todd Bailey will attend the opening of the newly renovated Daugavpils Synagogue on Tuesday, April 11. The renovation of the synagogue was possible thanks to the Mark Rothko family, the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and other supporters.
Along with Ambassador Bailey, the United States will be represented at this event by members of the Rothko family; former American Ambassador to Latvia Brian Carlson and his wife Marcia Carlson; and Warren Miller, Chairman of the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad (USCPAHA).
In 2003, Ambassador Carlson and Farida Zaletilo of the Daugavpils museum invited the family of the well-known American painter Mark Rothko to return to their father’s native city, Daugavpils. During the celebration of Rothko’s centenary, the family visited the only remaining synagogue in Daugavpils and expressed interest in helping renovate it.
Mark Rothko’s 2003 centenary was celebrated in Latvia with an exhibit of his original paintings in Riga, along with an exhibit of copies of Rothko’s work and an international conference in Daugavpils. Mark Rothko was born in Daugavpils in 1903 and at the age of 13 emigrated to the United States, where he later achieved fame as abstract impressionist painter.
U.S. Embassy, Riga, Public Affairs Section
Smilšu iela 7
Rīga, LV 1050
Phone: 371 750-9022
Internet: www.usembassy.lv
Media specialist’s e-mail: ruklisk@state.gov