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''History of Lithuania'' ( lt, Lietuvos istorija) or ''Academic History of Lithuania'' ( lt, Akademinė Lietuvos istorija) is a thirteen-volume series of books dedicated to the history of
Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...
. Its first volume was published in 2005, and its last volume is scheduled for publication in 2011. After its completion it will be the largest and the most comprehensive academic publication covering Lithuania's history ever released. As of 2011 five volumes had been released.


Background

After Lithuania regained its independence from the
Soviet union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...
in 1990, a number of academic works were published by prominent historians of the state's history. These included
Edvardas Gudavičius Edvardas Gudavičius (6 September 1929 – 27 January 2020) was a Lithuanian historian. He was known as one of the best historians in Lithuania specializing in the early history of Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1953, he graduated from Kaunas P ...
‘ "''Lietuvos istorija. Nuo seniausių laikų iki 1569 metų''" ( en, History of Lithuania. From ancient times to the year 1569) in 1999;
Zigmantas Kiaupa Zigmantas Kiaupa (29 June 1942 in Pakiaunis village near Ignalina) is a Lithuanian historian, archivist, and professor. His specialty is political history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state tha ...
's "''Lietuvos valstybės istorija''" ( en, History of the State of Lithuania) in 2004; and
Alfredas Bumblauskas Alfredas Bumblauskas (born 18 November 1956) is a professor at Vilnius University and one of the best known Lithuanian historians. After graduating from Žemaitė school in Telšiai, he enrolled in Vilnius University in 1974. Bumblauskas receiv ...
’ "''Senosios Lietuvos istorija 1009–1795''" ( en, The Early History of Lithuania from 1009-1795) in 2005. However, the majority of these were dedicated to specific time frames and did not cover the entire period from prehistory to the modern era. The first proposal to issue a complete history may be credited to professor
Antanas Tyla Antanas is a Lithuanian masculine given name derived from Antonius that is equivalent to Anthony in Lithuania. It may refer to: *Antanas Andrijauskas (born 1948), Lithuanian philosopher *Antanas Bagdonavičius (born 1938), Lithuanian rower and Ol ...
. The suggestion was reinforced by academic
Vytautas Merkys Vytautas Merkys (5 May 1929 in Čivai, near Kupiškis – 25 July 2012) was a Lithuanian historian and a professor at Vilnius University. Biography Vytautas Merkys graduated from Vilnius University's department of history and philology in 19 ...
. The opportunity to issue a fundamental and comprehensive academic work arose in 2000, when a programme sponsored by the Lithuanian Institute of History, coordinated by
prof. Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...
habil.
dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...
Jūratė Kiaupienė, was approved. Per the approved programme, each volume of the ''Academic History'' will cover a particular historical time frame, and its thirteen volumes will encompass Lithuania's entire history. After its completion it will be the largest academic publication covering Lithuania's history ever released and will include the latest research findings. Its intent is to transcend narrow historical perspectives and to focus on the evolution of Lithuania. Political, ethical, confessional, and judicial themes will be covered in a European context, and the modern works of
Ukrainian Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...
, Russian and other states' historians will be examined. Initially twelve volumes were planned, but after the work began it became evident that coverage of modern Lithuanian history would require an additional volume. The successive volumes will be the same size - 25.5 cm x 16.5 cm. The editorial board of the series consists of the following scholars: habil. dr. Algirdas Girininkas, dr.
Artūras Dubonis Artūras Dubonis (July 23, 1962 in Vilnius Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius ...
, prof. dr.
Zigmantas Kiaupa Zigmantas Kiaupa (29 June 1942 in Pakiaunis village near Ignalina) is a Lithuanian historian, archivist, and professor. His specialty is political history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state tha ...
, prof. habil. dr. Jūratė Kiaupienė, dr.
Česlovas Laurinavičius Česlovas Laurinavičius (born September 16, 1952 in Klaipeda) is a Lithuanian historian and politologist, In 2003, he was the recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Order for Merits to Lithuania. Since 2001, he has served as the head of the Depar ...
, dr.
Rimantas Miknys Rimantas (shortened as Rimas) is a masculine Lithuanian given name. The feminine form of the name is Rimantė. Notable people with the name include: *Rimantas Astrauskas (b. 1955), physicist, ecologist, and signatory of the 1990 Act * Rimantas Jon ...
, dr. Gintautas Sliesoriūnas, and dr. Gintautas Zabiela. More than 20 scholars are working on this project. Each volume is
peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer review ...
ed and has an additional responsible editor. The Lithuanian Institute of History is acting in cooperation with Lithuanian universities, including
Vilnius University Vilnius University ( lt, Vilniaus universitetas) is a public research university, oldest in the Baltic states and in Northern Europe outside the United Kingdom (or 6th overall following foundations of Oxford, Cambridge, St. Andrews, Glasgow and ...
, increasing scholarly involvement in the project.


Volume I

The series' first volume, ''"Lietuvos istorija. Akmens amžius ir ankstyvasis metalų leikotrapis"'' ( en, History of Lithuania. Stone Age and Early Metal Era), was released in 2005. This volume covers the period between the end of the last
ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages and gree ...
and the first written mention of the inhabitants in the
Baltic region The terms Baltic Sea Region, Baltic Rim countries (or simply the Baltic Rim), and the Baltic Sea countries/states refer to slightly different combinations of countries in the general area surrounding the Baltic Sea, mainly in Northern Europe. ...
. It covers approximately 10,000 years, investigating the development of communities during the
paleolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
,
mesolithic The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
, and
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
eras and the
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
in a local and European context. Forest dwellers are examined along with agrarian societies. It features an improved periodisation of epochs, and social developments are analyzed using not only archaeological findings, but the methodologies of the
natural science Natural science is one of the branches of science concerned with the description, understanding and prediction of natural phenomena, based on empirical evidence from observation and experimentation. Mechanisms such as peer review and repeatab ...
s as well. The genesis and evolution of particular local cultures such as ''mesolithic
Nemunas The Neman, Nioman, Nemunas or MemelTo bankside nations of the present: Lithuanian: be, Нёман, , ; russian: Неман, ''Neman''; past: ger, Memel (where touching Prussia only, otherwise Nieman); lv, Nemuna; et, Neemen; pl, Niemen; ...
'' and ''Neolithic Nemunas'' is discussed. The 357-page volume was written by authors known for their field work in archeology and the prehistory of Lithuania: dr.
Tomas Ostrauskas Tomas may refer to: People * Tomás (given name), a Spanish, Portuguese, and Gaelic given name * Tomas (given name), a Swedish, Dutch, and Lithuanian given name * Tomáš, a Czech and Slovak given name * Tomas (surname), a French and Croatian surna ...
, dr. Vygandas Juodagalvis, hab. dr. Algirdas Girininkas ir dr. Džiugas Brazaitis. Its responsible editor was Algirdas Girininkas. The volume was peer reviewed by prof. habil. dr.
Vladas Žulkus Vladas Žulkus (born April 16, 1945 in Telšiai) is a Lithuanian archaeologist. In October 2002 he was elected rector of Klaipėda University. Biography Žulkus started his career as an archaeologist in the Institute for Monument Preservation in ...
and dr.
Algimantas Merkevičius Algimantas Merkevičius (born 3 January 1969) is a Lithuanian judo is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書 ...
.


Volume II

The second volume, entitled ''"Lietuvos istorija. Geležies amžius"'' ( en, History of Lithuania. The Iron Age), was issued in 2007. It encompasses the era between the 1st century and the 12th century. Invoking archaeological research, it discusses Lithuania's formation and development, and the impacts made by the
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
s and by
Rus Rus or RUS may refer to: People and places * Rus (surname), a Romanian-language surname * East Slavic historical territories and peoples (). See Names of Rus', Russia and Ruthenia ** Rus' people, the people of Rus' ** Rus' territories *** Kievan ...
. An in-depth analysis was made of the evolution of the
Baltic Baltic may refer to: Peoples and languages * Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian *Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originati ...
tribes in the region, since these Lithuanians were the only Balts to create their own state. The volume was written by dr. Gintautas Zabiela, habil. dr. Vytautas Kazakevičius, dr. Ilona Vaškevičiūtė, dr.
Rasa Banytė Rowell Rasa may refer to: Indian culture * Rasa (aesthetics), a concept in the Indian performing arts * Rasa (theology), a concept of nectar or emotional rapture related to Krishna devotion * Rasā, a mythical river mentioned in the Rigveda * Rasa li ...
, and dr.
Darius Baronas Darius may refer to: Persian royalty ;Kings of the Achaemenid Empire * Darius I (the Great, 550 to 487 BC) * Darius II (423 to 404 BC) * Darius III (Codomannus, 380 to 330 BC) ;Crown princes * Darius (son of Xerxes I), crown prince of Persia, ma ...
; the responsible editor was Gintautas Zabiela. During the volume's preparation, Vytautas Kazakevičius died, and his work was finished by Zabiela. The 517-page volume was peer reviewed by dr. Albinas Kuncevičius and dr. Mindaugas Bertašius.


Volume XII

In 2008 was released another volume of the book entitled ''"Sąjūdis: nuo "Persitvarkymo" iki Kovo 11-osios"'' ( en, History of Lithuania.
Sąjūdis Sąjūdis (, "Movement"), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Persitvarkymo Sąjūdis), is the political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was es ...
: from "Restructuring" till
March 11 Events Pre-1600 * 222 – Roman emperor Elagabalus is murdered alongside his mother, Julia Soaemias. He is replaced by his 14-year old cousin, Severus Alexander. * 843 – Triumph of Orthodoxy: Empress Theodora II restores the venerati ...
). Volume is written by dr. Česlovas Laurinavičius and dr. Vladas Sirutavičius. Currently available I part of the XII volume.


Volumes III through XIII

The third volume will begin with the 12th century; the thirteenth and last volume will cover the 21st century. The last volume is scheduled for release in about 2011. According to a preliminary assessment, the remaining volumes will be organized and edited as follows:


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Lithuania (Book) 2007 books 2005 books Lithuanian books