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 The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state that existed from the 13th century to 1795, when the territory was partitioned among the Russian Empire, the Kingdom of Prussia, and the Habsburg Empire of Austria. The state was founded by Lit ...

. In 1953, he graduated from Kaunas Polytechnic Institute with a degree in

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

. Gudavičius started his career as a mechanic at one of the factories in Kaunas, but in 1958 moved to

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 ...

. In 1962, he enrolled to Vilnius State University of Vincas Kapsukas seeking a degree in

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

. In 1991, he earned the title of

professor 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 ...

. He was a full member of

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 ...

. To the wider public he was mostly known for his work together with Alfredas Bumblauskas on the long-running

TV show A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

''Būtovės slėpiniai'', a

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Sh ...

dedicated to topics of the

history of Lithuania The history of Lithuania dates back to settlements founded many thousands of years ago, but the first written record of the name for the country dates back to 1009 AD. Lithuanians, one of the Baltic peoples, later conquered neighboring lands an ...

. Gudavičius was a frequent contributor to various reference works, including the 25-volume ''

Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija The ''Visuotinė lietuvių enciklopedija'' or VLE (translation ''Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia'') is a 25-volume universal Lithuanian-language encyclopedia published by the Science and Encyclopaedia Publishing Institute from 2001 to 2014. V ...

''. He also published works on the

Statutes of Lithuania The Statutes of Lithuania, originally known as the Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, were a 16th-century codification of all the legislation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and its successor, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The Stat ...

Dissertations

* 1971 Lithuanian serfage process and its reflection in The first Statute * 1989 Lithuania in the Balts' war against German aggression in 13th century

Publications

* ''Žymenys ir ženklai Lietuvoje XII-XX a.'', Vilnius, 1981, 131 p. * ''Pirmasis Lietuvos Statutas'' (together with Stanislovas Lazutka), Vilnius, 1983, t. 1, d. 1: Paleografinė ir tekstologinė nuorašų analizė; Vilnius, 1985, t. 1, d. 2: Dzialinskio, Lauryno ir Ališavos nuorašų faksimilės; Vilnius, 1991, t. 2, d. 1: Tekstai senąja baltarusių, lotynų ir senąja lenkų kalbomis. . * ''Kryžiaus karai Pabaltijyje ir Lietuva XIII amžiuje'', Vilnius, 1989, 192 p. . * ''Miestų atsiradimas Lietuvoje'', Vilnius, 1991, 95 p. . * ''Mindaugas'', Vilnius, 1998, 360 p. . * ''Lietuvos istorija. Nuo seniausių laikų iki 1569 metų'', Vilnius, 1999, 664 p. . * '' ----'', Vilnius, 2002, 116 p. . * ''Lietuvos europėjimo keliais: istorinės studijos'', Vilnius, 2002, 384 p. . * ''Lietuvos akto promulgacijos kelias: nuo Vytauto kanceliarijos iki Lietuvos Metrikos'', Vilnius, 2006, 80 p. .

Awards

Gudavičius received these awards: * The Commander's Grand Cross of the

Order of Vytautas the Great The Order of Vytautas the Great is the Lithuanian Presidential Award.''Lietuvos Respublikos Konstitucija. 84 straipsnis''. Priimta 1992 It may be conferred on the heads of Lithuania and foreign states, as well as their citizens, for distinguished ...

, Lithuania, 2003 * The Commander's Cross of the

Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas The Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is the Lithuanian Presidential Award which was re-instituted to honour the citizens of Lithuania for outstanding performance in civil and public offices. Foreign nationals may also be awarded this O ...

, Lithuania, 1999 * Lithuanian National Prize 1998.

References

* 1929 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Lithuanian historians 21st-century Lithuanian historians Commander's Crosses of the Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas Kaunas University of Technology alumni Vilnius University faculty Writers from Kaunas Recipients of the Lithuanian National Prize Vilnius University alumni Engineers from Kaunas {{Lithuania-historian-stub