Institute of Practical Knowledge

Before the First World War, Riga had commercial schools with instruction in German and Russian. During the 1920s, three commercial institutes were established in Latvia: the Riga Commercial Institute of the Society for the Promotion of Higher Commercial Education, the Commercial Institute of the Society for the Promotion of Higher Education, and the Liepāja branch of the Riga Commercial Institute (founded in summer 1929). Jewish students studied at all of these institutions.

The Institute of Practical Knowledge was founded in summer 1923 as a private educational establishment. Its director and owner was Pēteris Martinsons. On 22 July 1923, the newspaper Latvijas Sargs published an announcement of the opening of this private higher education institution. The programme lasted two years. Two departments were established — Consular (political economy, international law) and Commercial. Its main aim was to train specialists in economics and political-administrative work both in Latvia and abroad. The Consular Department prepared diplomatic agents, consuls, state and private trade representatives. The Commercial Department, modelled on the German Handelsakademie (commercial school), trained organisers and senior managers for trading firms and industrial enterprises.

By 1924, a third department had been added — Agricultural. In 1923, admission was announced without entrance examinations. Students of any gender, nationality, religion, or age were accepted. The only requirement was a certificate of completion of secondary school or equivalent institutions (technical schools, nautical schools, military academies, agricultural schools). Those who had not finished secondary school or lacked documentation were admitted as auditors (volnoslushateli). Alongside core subjects, special emphasis was placed on French and English. Tuition was 70 lats per semester. Students were also entitled to reduced fares on railways and discounted tickets for all Riga theatres. Six places were reserved for recipients of the Order of Lāčplēsis and disabled veterans of the Latvian Army.

Among the first teaching staff were lawyers and professors of the University of Latvia: Vasily Sinaiski and Aleksandr Kruglevsky. Vilis Gulbis taught accounting; Sergey Mikhailov — trade sciences; Gustav Sadovsky — commercial law, economic geography, history of commerce, and German; Kārlis Speldziņš — French; Fyodor Godman — Oriental languages (Turkish, Arabic, Persian); Oskar von May — English; Jānis Vītoliņš — political economy; Petr Mandens — commercial sciences and shorthand; Nikolay Westermann — German. In autumn 1927, M. Lazerson began teaching constitutional law.

The Institute’s academic and financial standing improved when, in January 1929, it was taken over by the Society for the Promotion of Higher Education (Augstākās izglītības veicināšanas biedrība). According to the 1929 Statutes, its board was headed by Senator Bronisław Naguevsky, with Dr Visvaldis Sander as deputy. The Society’s Council included 27 members, among them Sejm deputy M. Nurok, industrialist H. Feldhun, barrister M. Lazerson, and manufacturer Samuil Maikapar. Members also included lecturer and member of the Economic Council of the Ministry of Finance Veniamin Ziv, head of a trading firm A. Sobolevich, lawyer A. Segal, and merchant H. Shapiro. Many professors from the University of Latvia joined the faculty, as well as deputies of the Latvian Sejm and Senators of the Supreme Court: Longin Ausējs, Alfred Bilmanis, Pēteris Zālīte, Eduards Balodis, among others. New lecturers included V. Ziv and Dr M. Feitelberg, who taught at the Institute until the late 1930s.

On 6 February 1930, according to inspection data, the Institute had 272 students and auditors. Of these, 122 had graduated from Latvian schools, 36 from Russian and Belarusian, 48 from Jewish, 3 from German, and 1 from a Polish school. Advertising booklets emphasised the multinational student body and the presence of numerous student corporations. Among them was the Jewish student corporation Betaria, though its statute was never officially approved.

Addresses of the Institute: Marias iela 26 (in the building of Olavs’ Commercial School); Brīvības iela 40. Literature: Augstākās izglītības veicināšanas biedrības komerczinātņu institūts. Rīga, b.g; Schulle und Hause. Sonderrabdruck aus der Jahresbericht der Rigaer Kommerzschule des Bцrsenverein ьber das Schuljahr 1912/13. Riga, 1913; Zeitweiliger Lehrplan der Rigaer Kommerzschule, begründet von Börser-Verein (Die Vorbereitungsklasse und die vier unteren Klassen). Riga, 1901