The Lithuanian Scientific Society ( lt, Lietuvių mokslo draugija) was a scientific, cultural, and educational organization that was active between 1907 and 1940 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). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...

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 ...

. It was founded in 1907 on the initiative of

Jonas Basanavičius Jonas Basanavičius (, pl, Jan Basanowicz; 23 November 1851 – 16 February 1927) was an activist and proponent of the Lithuanian National Revival. He participated in every major event leading to the independent Lithuanian state and is often give ...

. The founding assembly of the organization took place on April 7, 1907. The assembly elected

as chairman, Stasys Matulaitis and Povilas Matulionis as vice-chairmen,

Jonas Vileišis Jonas Vileišis (January 3, 1872 – June 1, 1942) was a Lithuanian lawyer, politician, and diplomat. Early life and career Vileišis was born in Mediniai, near Pasvalys. In 1892 he graduated from the Šiauliai Gymnasium. During 1892-1894, he ...

as secretary,

Antanas Vileišis Dr. Antanas Vileišis (October 21, 1856 in Mediniai near Biržai – April 9, 1919 in Vilnius) was a Lithuanian public figure. After graduating from Moscow University in 1898, he settled in Vilnius and practiced medicine. He contributed to and ...

as treasurer, and

Antanas Smetona Antanas Smetona (; 10 August 1874 – 9 January 1944) was a Lithuanian intellectual and journalist and the first President of Lithuania from 1919 to 1920 and again from 1926 to 1940, before its occupation by the Soviet Union. He was one of the m ...

as librarian. Other members of the organization included

Juozas Tumas-Vaižgantas Juozas Tumas also known by the pen name Vaižgantas (20 September 1869 – 29 April 1933) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic priest and an activist during the Lithuanian National Revival. He was a prolific writer, editor of nine periodicals, univers ...

, , and

Petras Vileišis Petras Vileišis (25 January 1851 – 12 August 1926) was a prominent Lithuanian engineer specializing in the construction of railroad bridges. He was very active in Lithuanian public life and together with his brothers Jonas and Antanas became ...

. Jonas Basanavičius served as its chairman until his death in 1927. The Society conducted research on the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian ( ) is an Eastern Baltic language belonging to the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the official language of Lithuania and one of the official languages of the European Union. There are about 2.8 millio ...

and its dialects, along with anthropological, archaeological, and other historical research. It operated a library, an archive, a reading room, and a museum, and was involved in the publication of Lithuanian textbooks. The Society also published the scholarly journal ''Lietuvių Tauta'' (The Lithuanian Nation). In 1911 the Vilnius city magistrate began a proceeding to demolish the city's Upper Castle, and use the hill as a water supply reservoir. The Lithuanian Scientific Society, under the direction of Jonas Basanavičius, initiated a protest and was successful in preventing the planned demolition. The remains of the Castle were spared. The Society also worked to preserve the

Lida Lida ( be, Лі́да ; russian: Ли́да ; lt, Lyda; lv, Ļida; pl, Lida ; yi, לידע, Lyde) is a city 168 km (104 mi) west of Minsk in western Belarus in Grodno Region. Etymology The name ''Lida'' arises from its Lithuani ...

and Trakai Castles. The Society was based in the

Vileišis Palace Vileišis Palace is a Neo-baroque style architectural ensemble in Vilnius, Lithuania, built for Petras Vileišis. Vileišis was a prominent Lithuanian engineer, political activist, publisher, and philanthropist who commissioned the palace in 19 ...

. In January 1938 the Society was banned by the Polish government, when Vilnius was part of Poland. The Society resumed its activities in January 1939 under its new name, The Lithuanian Society of Friends of Science (''Lietuvių mokslo mylėtoju draugija''). After Lithuania was ceded the city in late 1939 by 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 ...

as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, the property of the Society was transferred to the

Institute of the Lithuanian Language The Institute of the Lithuanian Language ( lt, Lietuvių kalbos institutas) in Vilnius is a state-supported research organization that focuses on research into the Lithuanian language. The Institute of the Lithuanian Language is a research establ ...

in 1940, and later to the

Lithuanian Academy of Sciences The Lithuanian Academy of Sciences or LMA ( lt, Lietuvos mokslų akademija) is a state-funded independent organization in Lithuania dedicated for science and research. Its mission is to mobilize prominent scientists and initiate activities that ...

. Most of the exhibits were later transferred to the Lithuanian Museum of History and Ethnography; the

numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

collection went to the

Lithuanian Art Museum Lithuanian National Museum of Art is the largest national museum in Lithuania collecting, restoring, and conserving art as well as historical objects of cultural value while presenting artefacts of national importance in an astonishing number of ...

Honorary members

Adalbert Bezzenberger Adalbert Bezzenberger (14 April 1851 – 31 October 1922) was a German philologist. He was born at Kassel and died at Königsberg. He is considered to be the founder of Baltic philology.Baudouin de Courtenay Jan Niecisław Ignacy Baudouin de Courtenay (13 March 1845 – 3 November 1929) was a Polish linguist and Slavist, best known for his theory of the phoneme and phonetic alternations. For most of his life Baudouin de Courtenay worked at Imperi ...

Filipp Fortunatov Filipp Fyodorovich Fortunatov ( rus, Фили́пп Фёдорович Фортуна́тов; – ) was a Russian philologist, Indo-Europeanist and Slavist, best known for establishing the Fortunatov–de Saussure law. Biography Fortunatov wa ...

Aleksey Shakhmatov Alexei Alexandrovich Shakhmatov (russian: link=no, Алексе́й Алекса́ндрович Ша́хматов, – 16 August 1920) was a Russian Imperial philologist and historian credited with laying foundations for the science of tex ...

Tadeusz Wróblewski Tadeusz Stanisław Wróblewski (8 November 1858 – 3 July 1925) was a Polish noble, politician, lawyer, bibliophile and cultural activist. He supported the democratic wing of the Krajowcy movement and founded the Wróblewski Library in Vilnius ...

References

{{Authority control Scientific organizations established in 1907 1940 disestablishments in Lithuania Organizations based in Vilnius Scientific societies based in Lithuania 1907 establishments in Lithuania Organizations disestablished in 1940 Clubs and societies in Lithuania

Honorary members

See also

References