GRADUATE OF RIGA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, ENGINEER AND ATHLETE

The aim of the article is to reveal the performance of Mārtiņš Stabiņš, a graduate of the Faculty of Automation and Computer Technology (1972; FACT) of Riga Polytechnic Institute (RPI), in the profession of engineer and high achievements in sports, becoming a Latvian champion in athletics several times, to reveal his daily life during his study years in the 1960s–1970s. Despite the fact that M. Stabiņš’ sports achievements have already described, this article summarizes his successes as well as reveals hitherto little-known and unpublished documents about his family, daily life, developments and interests. This is the first major research on the life of an engineer and athlete during seven decades. The resources used in the research are the personal archives of M. Stabiņš and of the author, documents of the National Archives of Latvia, and the collection of the National Library of Latvia.


Introduction
RPI FACT graduate, engineer and athlete Mārtiņš Stabiņš is one of those people whose name is inextricably linked with RPI and the sports life and events of the Republic of Latvia in the second half of the 20th century and the 21st century. He has experienced very bright moments in his working life and sports; he has always been a patriot of his university -RPI (since 1990 -Riga Technical University), of Latvia and its sports.
RTU is known not only as the oldest technical university in the Baltic provinces, but also as a higher education institution, whose students and lecturers have been engaged in sports and have achieved excellent results in various sports competitions and participated in the Olympic Games. During studies in 1960s-1970s, sport was compulsory not only in universities related to sports specialties. M. Stabiņš has been doing sports since childhood, and still does, encouraging others to do it. Many photographs, acknowledgments and certificates of honour that are used in the article with the permission of M. Stabiņš reflect his life. The research about him was performed by analysing documents, articles, photo archives and interviews with M. Stabiņš.

Childhood and School Years of M. Stabiņš
Mārtiņš Stabiņš was born on 17 September 1948, in Rekava, Šķilbēni Parish, Balvi District. Initially there were two first names in his birth certificate -Mārtiņš and Jānis, but during the Soviet rule only one was to be written in person's documents. Before receiving the passport, Mārtiņš had to change his birth certificate, leaving one name in it -Mārtiņš.
His father Pēteris Stabiņš  was born in Dzērbene, served in the Army of the Republic of Latvia in Rēzekne, was the postmaster in Punduri, Baltinava Parish, and later was a laboratory assistant at Rekava Secondary School for many years. After World War II, the family's first place of residence and living conditions in Rekava were modest -the family had one room on the first floor of the building with furnace heating, water had to be brought from a well with buckets, a toilet was outside the house, however the kitchen was separate. Mārtiņš remembers that in the evenings the light was on for a long time -the family used a kerosene lamp, but later electricity was provided by the mill and could be used until 10 p.m. The family went to the neighbours to watch TV because they did not have their own TV set. Living conditions improved slightly when the Stabiņi family moved from the one-room apartment to a two-room apartment at the other end of the same house. The part of the house where the family used to live was demolished.
In order to avoid trouble and condemnation of the Soviet authorities, the boy was baptized secretly in Baltinava, with his mother's brother Vladislavs Makužs  invited to be his godfather and Valentīna Ruskule (1925-2010) as his godmother.
Mārtiņš' childhood memories are quite vivid: his grandfather wanted both grandsons to become fishermen and taught them this craft, however none of the two brothers chose it. After kidney injury, when a heavy butt fell on him during field work, Mārtiņš miraculously survived and recovered. During his school years, he and his friends were very interested in music and orchestra, but Mārtiņš and his friends still chose sports [3]. Mārtiņš studied at Rekava Secondary School (1955)(1956)(1957)(1958)(1959)(1960)(1961)(1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966) and finished the first grade as an excellent pupil, receiving a commendation with photographs of Stalin and Lenin. He had various free-time interests, Mārtiņš and other pupils went skiing, played basketball and volleyball and trained in athletics in the stadium. M. Stabiņš' first diploma for high results in athletics dates back to 1962. During his primary school years, Mārtiņš was often the best in both school and district competitions in various athletics disciplines. When he was in secondary school, Gunārs Stradiņš, the coach and director (1962)(1963)(1964)(1965)(1966)(1967) of the Balvi District Children's and Youth Sports School, sent him training plans, which M. Stabiņš conscientiously carried out by himself [3]. He was the best in many athletics disciplines in the region. In the autumn of 1963, coach G. Stradiņš predicted that Mārtiņš Stabiņš could become a «athlete in the future» [4]. The coach was not mistaken -in the following years M. Stabiņš became a multiple record holder in track and field athletics in Balvi District, won the 4th place in octathlon and triple jump in competitions of the republic [5].
At home, Mārtiņš and his brother were assigned various responsibilities to help the family. Thanks to physical activities he found his lifelong occupation -sports. He attended school with a serious attitude towards studies and work taught by his mother -a teacher.

M. Stabiņš' Studies at RPI
While studying at RPI FACT (1966)(1967)(1968)(1969)(1970)(1971)(1972), M. Stabiņš used every opportunity to combine studies with work and sports, at the same time appreciating the quality of studies and the professionalism of the teaching staff. He had experienced what lack of money meant for the family in the post-war years, therefore not being granted a stipend after entrance examinations because of two low marks and due to the strict selection of applicants in RPI annual enrolment proved to be a challenge for M. Stabiņš. He was not granted a stipend because his results of entrance examinations were among one «five», were two «fours», and also two «threes». M. Stabiņš' character, entrepreneurship, will, optimism, as well as structured and thorough knowledge acquired during secondary school years were of great importance -he endured the difficult beginning of studies.   RPI was an engineers' forge that trained specialists in many specialties and the university always strived to ensure the quality of studies. Brother Juris suggested that Mārtiņš could work in RPI FACT computer technology training laboratory as a laboratory assistant. Thus, the freshman was forced to keep up with the works of third-year students... [3].  M. Stabiņš remembers studies at RPI also for the serious and demanding attitude of the teaching staff. For example, student M. Stabiņš took an exam in a subject four times, attending consultations throughout the summer, until he «memorized the subject» [3]. At the end of their studies, all male RPI graduates were required to complete a two-month so-called «sbori» (a short analogy of a military service in the Soviet Army), as students usually were not called to serve in the army during their studies. M. Stabiņš remembers those moments and officers with jokes and smiles; but those who did not enter universities and did not study had to serve two or three (for sailors) years in the Soviet army. When M. Stabiņš completed his studies in the specialty of electronic computing machines (0608) in RPI FACT, he was awarded the qualification of an engineer-mathematician.  RPI graduate M. Stabiņš gratefully remembers his study years, lecturers, group members, events, and challenges. To acquire an engineering degree, one had to invest a lot of work, study, solve difficult tasks, and spend many hours at the drawing board or in the laboratory. The profession of an engineer was very prestigious therefore, Mārtiņš purposefully studied in order to acquire this profession. The group members' support, jokes, laughter, and tips helped as well. The fellow students of the course group of M. Stabiņš' are close and friendly up to this day. The course members got to know each other and became friends in the beginning of the 1st study year, in September, when all the students had to help the collective farms with the harvest. The friendship of youth continues and M. Stabiņš is the active and creative centre of the group, around whom the course mates «revolve». They meet, attend their lecturers and share memories [3].
During the study years, M. Stabiņš had close contacts not only with the group members, he made friends also with other students of the Faculty, for example, students of automation and telemechanics speciality (0606) Ēvalds Viļums and Ivars Kaktiņš, as well as students of other faculties.

Athlete's Activities
During his studies, M. Stabiņš continued to do sports and a lot of training. In 1968, his coach was RPI Assistant Professor Kārlis Liepiņš . From 1969 to 1973, the coach of the would-be champion was RPI coach Uldis Barbans (1932Barbans ( -2009 [3]. The success followed, which set Mārtiņš' professional sport level in the coming years. In 1970, RPI students beat four records of their university, one of them was M. Stabiņš in 110-metres hurdles (14.8 s). That year he was among the best athletes of the university in five other athletics disciplines -100 metres running (11.2 s), 200 metres hurdles (24.9 s), long jump (6.72 m), high jump (1.75 m), three-jump (12.84 m) [6]. M. Stabiņš was also among the best athletes of RPI in 1971 and 1972, moreover, he was also one of the best hurdles runners in Latvia in the distance of 55 and 110 meters. It did not happen without injuries. In the spring of 1971, the athlete had a serious injury, but gradually recovered from it and started again with good results [7]. In the 1972 RPI Spartakiad, he won the 1st place and new RPI record (14.7 s) in the 110-metre hurdles competition. In the 1972 Spartakiad competitions of Latvian universities, his results were even better -in the 110-metre hurdles, M. Stabiņš set a new RPI record -14.6 s. The year 1973 was even more successful -M. Stabiņš repeated the 18-year-old Latvian record of sprinter and hurdler Viesturs Kumuška  in the 110-metre hurdles (14.4 s) [8,9].  Sports did not interfere with studies, it even helped. Being a member of the Latvian national team guaranteed that he received RPI stipend, enabling him to actively do sports under the guidance of RPI coaches and to study successfully. The athlete needed to learn the ability to concentrate, attend countless workouts and had to believe in his own strength, overcome stress in case of loss, and keep himself in good physical shape.  The 1970s were successful for athlete M. Stabiņš. Careful training for many years and a fantastic return to the sport naturally gave excellent results. We can only imagine what his career as an athlete would have been like if he were able to perfect his skills in international competitions -in a different environment, with different equipment, meeting strong opponents. But it was a different era.
Historian, teacher Irēna Šaicāne, evaluating the success of North Latgale athletes, summarized the sports results of Mārtiņš Stabiņš and named him a famous RPI athlete [12] who five times beat the Latvian record in 110 m hurdles, eight times was a Latvian champion in this sport and four times Riga champion. He was also successful in the 55-metre hurdles indoors -he has been the champion of Riga five times. In 1970, M. Stabiņš won the title of Latvian champion in a 4 x 100 metre relay race (43.3 s) representing sports association «Daugava». He was a member of the Latvian national team (1969)(1970)(1971)(1972)(1973)(1974)(1975)(1976) winning the 110metre hurdles competition between Latvian and Estonian athletes (1973,1974). There have also been smaller-scale victories -M. Stabiņš has won the title of champion of the sports society «Daugava» six times in the 55-metre hurdles and six times in the 110-metre hurdles, was 2nd in the «Riga Cups» (1973) and several times was vice-champion and a 3rd place winner [9].  [13].
Together with friends and competitors of the youth days, there have been countless interesting competitions and matches, and meetings at anniversary celebrations. Former coaches are not forgotten, for example, in December 2002, RPI graduates went to Zaube to congratulate former coach U. Barbans [3]. Former athletes are enthusiasts of various physical and sports activities, time has no influence.   Starting as a member of the Jelgava volleyball team +65 in the World Masters (Seniors) Games in Turin (Italy) in 2013, he won the 2nd place. RPI graduate (1970) Juris Kahanovičs 1 also participated in the team [14].
In addition to sports, M. Stabiņš is interested in the history of Latvian sports and is involved in documenting it. His photo archive was used in the book «Sports Ziemeļlatgalē: ceļš līdz olimpiskajai medaļai» («Sports in Northern Latgale: The Road to the Olympic Medal») (2016) by historian I. Šaicāne, who also mentions his sports achievements [12].   By doing the research and interviews with M. Stabiņš the author made sure that athletic achievements are based on careful work about which the four-time Olympic champion American athlete Jesse Owens  said: «We all have dreams. But as a rule, it takes a lot of determination, enthusiasm, self-discipline and dedication to make these dreams come true» [12]. This can also be applied to M. Stabiņš.

Career of M. Stabiņš
In 1972, M. Stabiņš graduated from RPI. Before receiving the diploma -in April -the young engineer had to choose the place of work, which was done according to the decision of the State Distribution Commission. It coordinated the distribution of the necessary specialists of the National Planning Commission. At that time, the graduates of full-time department had to comply with the distribution of young specialists of all Soviet Union, which meant that after graduation, all fulltime students had to work for three years in one of the vacancies offered to the graduates that year. The average score (average mark in studies plus points for public work during studies) played an important role in state distribution. M. Stabiņš' success in sports and diligence received the highest evaluation in public work, so he was better than other graduates and even surpassed some whose average mark in studies was higher, but who had not been active in public work. Already during his internship in the fifth year, M. Stabiņš worked in the USSR Northwest Energy Systems Joint Dispatcher Administration (NESJDA), where he also developed his Diploma Thesis and made friends with the team. The interests of the new engineer and the chosen job coincided [18]. Two decades after completing the Diploma Thesis -from 1972 to 1992 -M. Stabiņš was an engineer in the USSR NESJDA.

The Family of M. Stabiņš During Times
Mārtiņš grew up in a hard-working and loving family and when the author met him, he had a quiet admiration for their wisdom and resilience. A significant role in his life had his older brother engineer, Juris Stabiņš, Doctor of Pedagogical Sciences and Engineering, who was seven years older than Mārtiņš, therefore, he sometimes taught him, as well as helped and shared his experience [3]. Brother J. Stabiņš worked for many years at RPI (1963RPI ( -1989, was a lecturer in FACT and later Rector of RAPEM [19]. After graduating from RPI and starting his career of an engineer, he had to think about starting his own family. M. Stabiņš chose Zane Čakstiņa as his wife, who was studying at Riga Medical Institute at that time. The wedding took place on Christmas 1976. Zane and Mārtiņš Stabiņš are approaching the 45th anniversary of their marriage. They raised two daughters -Gundega (m. Turnele) and Agnese (m. Leilande).  In his leisure time, Mārtiņš does not only sports. He gives joy to his family by playing guitar. Four grandchildren do not allow to get bored either -daughter Gundega has two boys: Oskars and Jēkabs; daughter Agnese has two daughters: Anna and Laima. Mārtiņš is always optimistic in family and at work. Since 1973, M. Stabiņš has enjoyed downhill skiing and every year the family travels to the Austrian mountains to ski. Mārtiņš is waiting for that moment or all year round. In his youth he also enjoyed playing volleyball and tennis.

Conclusions
Riga Technical University, the heir of RPI traditions and activities, can be proud of such graduate as Mārtiņš Stabiņš. Born in the postwar period, he always tried to set further goals and honour Latvia's name both during the Soviet rule and during the restored Republic of Latvia. Mārtiņš Stabiņš is one of the most outstanding RPI graduates, in the history of sports his name is associated with the title of Latvian champion in hurdles eight times and once in 4 x 100 relay race. M. Stabiņš is an engineer, athlete, organizer of sports life, inspirer of veteran sports competitions, co-author of books on the history of Latvian sports, family researcher, father, husband, and grandfather. The athlete has experienced different and various times, but has always maintained self-esteem, work ethics, optimism and a sporting fighting spirit. His professional activities and sports achievements, including human quality and optimism, are a great contribution to Latvia and his alma mater, the current RTU. M. Stabiņš is and will be role model for others.

Ērika Lanka
Graduate of Riga Polytechnic Institute, Engineer and Athlete Mārtiņš Stabiņš ĒRIKA LANKA, Mg. paed., Mg. phil., graduated from University of Latvia. From 1984, she was a lecturer at the Faculty of Education of University of Latvia, from 2008 she has been Director of one of the Programmes at the Centre of Adult Pedagogical Education of the Faculty of Education, Psychology and Art. She had participated as an expert in a lot of Latvian and foreign research projects, at the same time working as a teacher at schools. Her main academic interests include the philosophy of education, ethics, axiology, values and codex of teacher, history of pedagogy in Latvia and in Europe. She is a co-author of two monographies and the author of more than 35 publications. Address: Imantas 7. līnija, 1, Rīga, LV 1083, Latvia Phone: +371 292 648 29 E-mail: erika.lanka@edu.lu.lv, erikalanka@inbox.lv