On Tuesday, 27 September, having convened in the Saeima to evaluate the nominees for the Baltic Assembly (BA) prizes, the international jury decided to award this year’s Prize for Science to Maija Dambrova for her scientific work on energy metabolism, as well as her contribution to research of the mechanism of action of the metabolic agent Mildronate.

The BA Prize for Literature will be awarded to Lithuanian poet, writer, literary critic, playwright, and translator Sigitas Parulskis for his novel Darkness and Company, as well as for two collections of essays: Wanting Something Tender Before Dying and The Fangs of My Conviction.

The Prize for the Arts will be awarded to director Kristijonas Vildžiūnas nominated by Estonia for his film Seneca’s Day. This joint project of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania is the first of its kind. The movie focuses on Vilnius in 1989 and tells about the Baltic Way as well.

The monetary value of each prize is EUR 5000. The awards ceremony will be held as part of the annual BA session on 27–28 October in Riga, Latvia. 

The international jury was composed of nine experts in literature, science, and the arts from Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia. 

The other nominees in each category were: 

In Literature

• Guntis Berelis, Latvia. Writer. Nominated for his novel Vārdiem nebija vietas (There was no room for words) (2015);
• Doris Kareva, Estonia. Poet, translator and editor. Nominated for her collection of poems Family Album (2015);

In the Arts

• Vestards Šimkus, Latvia. Pianist. Nominated for remarkable performance at concerts in and outside Latvia, including many prominent international festivals, and for his interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s compositions in his solo album Vestard Shimkus. Rachmaninoff;
• David Geringas, Lithuania. Cellist and conductor. Nominated for excellence and ingenuity at concerts, as well as for promoting Baltic music in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and elsewhere in the world;

In Science:

• Limas Kupcinskas, Lithuania. Gastroenterologist. Nominated for high scientific achievements and strengthening of cooperation among the Baltic researchers. 

The BA Prize was established in 1994 and since then has been awarded to several well-known scientists, artists, and cultural workers. Last year, the Prize for Literature was awarded to Māris Bērziņš for his novel Svina garša (Taste of Lead). The Prize for the Arts was awarded to Lithuanian conductor Modestas Pitrėnas. The Prize for Science went to Estonian nominees Eva-Clarita Pettai and Vello Pettai for their monograph Transitional and Retrospective Justice in the Baltic States.

About the Baltic Assembly:
The Baltic Assembly is an interparliamentary cooperation organisation of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania established on 8 November 1991. Each national parliament of the Baltic States is represented in the Baltic Assembly by 12 to 20 members of the parliament. It is a coordinating and consultative organisation which has a right to express its opinion to the national parliaments and governments of the Baltic States, as well as the Baltic Council of Ministers, in the form of resolutions, decisions, declarations and recommendations; it also has a right to request the above-mentioned bodies to provide information on cross-border issues that are high on the Baltic Assembly’s agenda.

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Saeima Press Service