Online Lecture "Referendum on Autonomy in Narva in 1993: Failure or Success?"

The referendum on autonomy conducted by the city authorities of Narva in the summer of 1993 holds a special place in the recent history of Estonia. A rare example of such widespread popular mobilization, the referendum attracted international attention far beyond Estonia and to some extent influenced state policy towards the Russian-speaking population. Nevertheless, the referendum was deemed unconstitutional and had no continuation, and many participants in those events acknowledge that in the following years, official Tallinn turned away from Narva.

During the lecture, we will try to answer the question of what the referendum of 1993 really was and how its results can be evaluated today. The preparation of the lecture involved materials from the collection of the Narva City Archive, scientific and popular publications, as well as periodicals from 1993.

Speaker: Ivan Lavrentiev graduated from Tallinn University with a degree in history and obtained a master's degree from the University of Helsinki. He specializes in the history of Estonia and the former USSR during the transitional period of the 1980s-1990s. Since 2020, he has been a research fellow at the Narva Museum.

Cost of the lecture: 5€. 

The Zoom lecture link will be sent to the email address provided by you during ticket purchase one hour before the start of the lecture.