George Armitstead was born in
Riga,
Latvia (then:
Russian Empire) into a British merchant family; his uncle was
George Armitstead, 1st Baron Armitstead. 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
Zurich and
Oxford universities. Later on, Armitstead worked as an 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. On 7 May 1901 the
Riga City Council elected Armitstead to be the
Mayor of Riga. He transformed Riga rapidly: he built many of today's 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 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 Laird of the Russian Empire, while offering him to become the Mayor of
St Petersburg, but Armitstead refused. ==Death==