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Meilė Lukšienė
Meilutė Julija Lukšienė Matjošaitytė (20 August 1913 – 16 October 2009) was a Lithuanian university professor, cultural historian, and activist. Educated at Vytautas Magnus University, Lukšienė became a professor of literature in 1944. In 1955, she defended her thesis on the works of Jonas Biliūnas to become the Candidate of Sciences. She headed the Lithuanian Literature Department of Vilnius University in 1951–1958. Due to tightening Soviet censorship after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the department was attacked for not devoting enough attention to communist literature and Lukšienė was dismissed from the university in early 1959. She then worked as a research fellow at the Institute of Pedagogy (merged into the ) until retirement in 1997. She researched the history of education focusing on the 19th century. In 1988, she became one of the co-founders of Sąjūdis, a political organization which sought the independence of Lithuania from the Soviet Union. In th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sąjūdis
The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first opposition party in Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Lithuania, and was led by Vytautas Landsbergis. Its goal was to seek the return of independent status for Lithuania. Historical background In the mid-1980s, Lithuania's Communist Party leadership hesitated to embrace Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost. The death of Petras Griškevičius, first secretary of the Communist Party of Lithuania, in 1987 was merely followed by the appointment of another rigid communist, Ringaudas Songaila. However, encouraged by the rhetoric of Mikhail Gorbachev, noting the strengthening position of Solidarity (Polish trade union), Solidarity in Poland and encouraged by the Pope and the U.S. Government, Baltic independence activists began to hold publi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Act Of 11 March
The Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania or Act of 11 March () was an independence declaration by Lithuania adopted on 11 March 1990, signed by all members of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Lithuania led by Sąjūdis. The act emphasized restoration and legal continuity of the interwar-period Lithuania, which was occupied by the Soviet Union and annexed in June 1940. In March 1990, it was the first of the 15 Soviet republics to declare independence, with the rest following to continue for 21 months, concluding with Kazakhstan's independence in 1991. These events (part of the broader process dubbed the "parade of sovereignties") led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. Background Loss of independence After the partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century, Lithuania was part of the Russian Empire. In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution of 1917, the Council of Lithuania, chaired by Jonas Basanavičius, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Re-occupation Of Lithuania
The Soviet Union (USSR) occupied most of the territory of the Baltic states in its 1944 Baltic Offensive during World War II. Dear (2001). p. 85. The Red Army regained control over the three Baltic capitals and encircled retreating Wehrmacht and Latvian forces in the Courland Pocket where they held out until the final German surrender at the end of the war. Soviet offensives and re-occupation By 2 February 1944 the siege of Leningrad was over and the Soviet troops were on the border with Estonia. Bellamy (2007). p. 621. Having failed to break through, the Soviets launched the Tartu Offensive on 10 August, and the Baltic Offensive on 14 September with forces totalling 1.5 million. The High Command of the German Army issued Operation Aster on 16 September, whereby the Estonian forces would cover the German withdrawal. Bellamy (2007). p. 622. Soon after the Soviet reoccupation of the Estonian capital Tallinn, the first mission of the NKVD was to stop anyone escaping fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian Literature
Lithuanian literature () concerns the art of written works created by Lithuanians throughout their history. History Latin language A wealth of Lithuanian literature was written in Latin, the main scholarly language in the Middle Ages. The edicts of the Lithuanian King Mindaugas are the prime example of literature of this kind. The Letters of Gediminas are another crucial heritage of the Lithuanian Latin writings. One of the first Lithuanian authors who wrote in Latin was Nicolaus Hussovianus (about 1480 – after 1533). His poem ''Carmen de statura, feritate ac venatione bisontis'' (''A Song about the Appearance, Savagery and Hunting of the Bison''), published in 1523, describes the Lithuanian landscape, way of life and customs, touches on existing political problems and reflects the clash of paganism and Christianity. Joannes Vislicensis (1485–1520) wrote ''Bellum Prutenum'' (''Prussian war''), an epic poem which was dedicated to the Battle of Grunwald against the Teuto ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interwar Lithuania
In the history of the 20th century, the interwar period, also known as the interbellum (), lasted from 11 November 1918 to 1 September 1939 (20 years, 9 months, 21 days) – from the end of World War I (WWI) to the beginning of World War II (WWII). It was relatively short, yet featured many social, political, military, and economic changes throughout the world. Petroleum-based energy production and associated mechanisation led to the prosperous Roaring Twenties, a time of social mobility, social and economic mobility for the middle class. Automobiles, electric lighting, radio, and more became common among populations in the developed world, first world. The era's indulgences were followed by the Great Depression, an unprecedented worldwide economic downturn that severely damaged many of the world's largest economies. Politically, the era coincided with the rise of communism, starting in Russia with the October Revolution and Russian Civil War, at the end of WWI, and ended with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kaunas
Kaunas (; ) is the second-largest city in Lithuania after Vilnius, the fourth largest List of cities in the Baltic states by population, city in the Baltic States and an important centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life. Kaunas was the largest city and the centre of a in the Duchy of Trakai of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Trakai Voivodeship, Trakai Palatinate since 1413. In the Russian Empire, it was the capital of the Kovno Governorate, Kaunas Governorate from 1843 to 1915. During the interwar period, it served as the temporary capital of Lithuania, when Vilnius was Polish–Lithuanian War, seized and controlled by Second Polish Republic, Poland between 1920 and 1939. During that period Kaunas was celebrated for its rich cultural and academic life, fashion, construction of countless Art Deco and Lithuanian National Revival architectural-style buildings as well as popular furniture, interior design of the time, and a widespread café culture. The city in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I. The Second Republic was taken over in 1939, after it was invaded by Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and the Slovak Republic, marking the beginning of the European theatre of the Second World War. The Polish government-in-exile was established in Paris and later London after the fall of France in 1940. When, after several regional conflicts, most importantly the victorious Polish-Soviet war, the borders of the state were finalized in 1922, Poland's neighbours were Czechoslovakia, Germany, the Free City of Danzig, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, and the Soviet Union. It had access to the Baltic Sea via a short strip of coastline known as the Polish Corridor on either side of the city of Gdynia. Between March and August 1939, Poland a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vilnius Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium
Vilnius Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium () is a Gymnasium (school), gymnasium (high school) in Vilnius, Lithuania. Established in 1915, it became the first Lithuanian-language high school in the city. During the interwar period, the school was one of the key Lithuanian institutions in Vilnius Region which was incorporated into the Second Polish Republic and claimed by Lithuania. Many prominent Lithuanians worked (including two future Presidents of Lithuania) and studied (including future Prime Minister) at the school. Names The school was known under different names during its history: * 1915: Lithuanian Gymnasium Courses of Jonas Basanavičiaus, Mykolas Biržiška and Povilas Gaidelionis () * 1915–1918: Lithuanian Gymnasium of Rytas Society () * 1918–1921: Vilnius 1st Men's Gymnasium () * 1921–1944: Vilnius Vytautas Magnus Gymnasium () * 1944–1949: Vilnius 1st Boys' Gymnasium () * 1949–1957: Vilnius 1st Secondary School () * 1957–2000: Vilnius Antanas Vienuolis Secondary Sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marija Gimbutas
Marija Gimbutas (, ; January 23, 1921 – February 2, 1994) was a Lithuanian archaeology, archaeologist and anthropologist known for her research into the Neolithic and Bronze Age cultures of "Old European Culture, Old Europe" and for her Kurgan hypothesis, which located the Proto-Indo-European homeland in the Pontic Steppe. Biography Early life Marija Gimbutas was born as Marija Birutė Alseikaitė to Veronika Janulaitytė-Alseikienė and Danielius Alseika in Vilnius, the capital of the Republic of Central Lithuania; her parents were members of the Lithuanian intelligentsia. Her mother received a doctorate in ophthalmology at the University of Berlin in 1908, while her father received his medical degree from the University of Tartu in 1910. After Act of independence of Lithuania, Lithuania regained independence in 1918, Gimbutas's parents organized the Lithuanian Association of Sanitary Aid which founded the first Lithuanian hospital in the capital. During this period, her fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lithuanian Sanitary Aid Society
The Lithuanian Sanitary Aid Society (, ) was a Lithuanian society established in 1918 to provide medical care to refugees during World War I. First established in Minsk, the society purchased hospital equipment of a war hospital and relocated to Vilnius in July 1918. There it opened a hospital and continued to operate it until around 1941. Over the years, the hospital treated a total of about 300,000 patients. It was a charitable society, thus many of its treatments were provided at low cost or for free. After Vilnius incorporation into the Second Polish Republic, the society and the hospital were one of a few Lithuanian institutions active in Vilnius Region. The society and the hospital were headed by Danielius Alseika and, after his death, by Vytautas Legeika. History Establishment In early 1918, Minsk was occupied by the Germans. At the time, two Lithuanian physicians husband Danielius Alseika and wife Veronika Alseikienė worked at a war hospital which was not evacuated to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
