George Armitstead

George Armitstead  was an engineer, entrepreneur and the 4th Mayor of Riga.

George Armitstead was born in Riga, Latvia (then: recently annected by Russian Empire) into a British merchant family.

In 1869, Armitstead graduated from the Riga Polytechnical Institute with excellence, and was one of the founders of the Fraternitas Baltica fraternity.

He improved his knowledge at the Zurich and Oxford universities. Later, Armitstead worked as engineer in Russia.

After working in Russia, he came back to Riga, where his family owned many properties and factories, and became a significant social figure of the city life.

In May 7, 1901, the Riga City Council elected George Armitstead to be the Mayor of Riga. He transformed Riga rapidly: he built a lot of  buildings in Riga, 13 schools, 3 hospitals, the National Museum, the Zoo, libraries and cafés. Industry and commerce developed significantly.

During the period when he was the mayor, Riga turned from a small city into a major European city.

Emperor Nicholas II of Russia appreciated Armitstead's work and titled him a Lord / Baron of Russian Empire, and offered him to become the Mayor of St. Petersburg, but Armitstead refused.

In 1912 Armitstead fell very sick.

On October 29, 1912  the Riga City Council awarded him with Honorary Citizenship.

George Armitstead died on November 17. Today, Armitstead is remembered as one of the most honorable people of Riga.

27.10.2007 on his 160th birthday, during their first visit to Latvia, Queen Elizabeth II and Philip, Duke of Edinburgh revealed a memorial statue of George Armitstead, his wife and dog.