Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium () is a secondary school in Marijampolė,

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, 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, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. It is named after Rygiškių Jonas, one of the pen names of linguist

Jonas Jablonskis Jonas Jablonskis (; 30 December 1860, in Kubilėliai, Šakiai district – 23 February 1930, in Kaunas) was a distinguished Lithuanian linguist and one of the founders of the standard Lithuanian language. He used the pseudonym ''Rygiškių Jonas'' ...

who was one of the gymnasium's alumni. Established in 1867, the gymnasium was a significant cultural center of

Suvalkija Suvalkija or Sudovia ( or ''Sūduva'') is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania. Its unofficial capital is Marijampolė. People from Suvalkija (Suvalkijans) are called (plural) or (singular) in Lithuanian. It is located sout ...

and educated many prominent figures of the

Lithuanian National Revival The Lithuanian National Revival, alternatively the Lithuanian National Awakening or Lithuanian nationalism (), was a period of the history of Lithuania in the 19th century, when a major part of Lithuanian-inhabited areas belonged to the Russian ...

. Since 2010, it is a four-year school (9–12th years of secondary education).

History

The school traces its roots to 1840, when a four-year school was moved from Sejny to Marijampolė, which was then part of the Suwałki Governorate,

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

. The school was geared towards children of Polish nobles and was known far its anti-Lithuanian bias. After the Uprising of 1863, Tsarist authorities decided to implement various

Russification Russification (), Russianisation or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians adopt Russian culture and Russian language either voluntarily or as a result of a deliberate state policy. Russification was at times ...

policies, including the

Lithuanian press ban The Lithuanian press ban () was a ban on all Lithuanian language publications printed in the Latin alphabet, in force from 1865 to 1904, within the Russian Empire, which controlled Lithuania proper at the time. Lithuanian-language publications t ...

and de-

Polonization Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

of schools. That meant that children of Lithuanian farmers were encouraged to attend the school in Marijampolė, which in 1867 was converted into a seven-year gymnasium. The Tsarist authorities also established ten annual scholarships of 360

rubles The ruble or rouble (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is a currency unit. Currently, currencies named ''ruble'' in circulation include the Russian ruble (RUB, ₽) in Russia and the Belarusian ruble (BYN, Rbl) in Belarus. These currencies are su ...

for children of Lithuanian farmers who graduated from Marijampolė and Suwałki Gymnasiums to study at

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and Saint Petersburg Universities. In 1870, a dedicated two-storey brick building was erected. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the gymnasium was evacuated to

Yaroslavl Yaroslavl (; , ) is a city and the administrative center of Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, located northeast of Moscow. The historic part of the city is a World Heritage Site, and is located at the confluence of the Volga and the Kotorosl rivers. ...

until 1918. The gymnasium was reestablished in independent Lithuania and was known as one of the best schools in the country. In 1920, it was named after one of the pen names of

. Its director Kazys Jokantas became Minister of Education (1925–1926) and teacher Vincas Vilkaitis became rector of Lithuanian Agricultural Academy (1934–1940). During the times of the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

, the gymnasium was reorganized into an ordinary twelve-year secondary school. The gymnasium regained its historical name in 1996. A school museum was established in 1967, on the 100th anniversary of the gymnasium. In 2011, it had about 7,000 exhibits. In 2002, the Memorial Museum of Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas was moved to the gymnasium.

Names

The gymnasium was known by various names under different regimes: Marijampolė Men Gymnasium, Marijampolė State Rygiškių Jonas Gymnasium, Marijampolė 1st Gymnasium, Kapsukas 1st secondary school, Kapsukas Jono Jablonskis secondary school, Marijampolė Rygiškių Jonas secondary school.

Prominent alumni

Many prominent figures in Lithuanian politics, culture, and education graduated from Marijampolė Gymnasium. Among them were: * Juozas Adomaitis-Šernas (1859–1922), writer * Zigmas Angarietis (1882–1940), communist * Saliamonas Banaitis (1866–1933), educator, banker * Jonas Basanavičius (1851–1927), patriarch of the Lithuanian nation * Kazys Boruta (1905–1965), writer * Pranas Dovydaitis (1886–1942), politician, professor *

Algirdas Julien Greimas Algirdas Julien Greimas (; born ; 9 March 1917 – 27 February 1992) was a Lithuanian literary scientist who wrote most of his body of work in French while living in France. Greimas is known among other things for the Semiotic square, Greimas S ...

(1917–1992), linguist * Kazys Grinius (1866–1950), President of Lithuania *

(1860–1930), linguist * Petras Klimas (1891–1969), diplomat *

Vincas Kudirka Vincas Kudirka (; – ) was a Lithuanian poet and physician, and the author of both the music and lyrics of the Lithuanian national anthem, "". He is regarded in Lithuania as a national hero. Kudirka used the pen names V. Kapsas, Paežerių Vi ...

(1858–1898), writer * Juozas Montvila (1885-1912), Catholic priest who was a passenger of the Titanic during its sinking * Jurgis Matulaitis-Matulevičius (1871–1927), bishop *

Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas Vincas Mickevičius, known under his pen name ''Kapsukas'' ( – 17 February 1935), was a Lithuanian Communism, communist political activist, Opinion journalism, publicist, and revolutionary. As an active member of the Lithuanian National Reviv ...

(1880–1935), communist * Vincas Mykolaitis-Putinas (1893–1967), writer * Salomėja Nėris (1904–1945), poet *

Justinas Staugaitis Justinas Staugaitis (14 November 1866 near Šakiai – 8 July 1943, Telšiai) was a Lithuanian Roman Catholic bishop, politician, educator, and author. He was one of the twenty signatories to the Act of Independence of Lithuania. Biography ...

(1866–1943), bishop * Matas Šalčius (1890–1940), traveler, journalist *

Antanas Venclova Antanas Venclova (7 January 1906 – 28 June 1971) was a Soviet and Lithuanian politician, poet, journalist and translator. Early life Born in Kalvarija Municipality, Trempiniai in Suwałki Governorate, Venclova studied Lithuanian, Russian ...

(1906–1971), Soviet politician, writer * Angelė Vyšniauskaitė (1919–2006), ethnologist, professor * Jacob Gens (1903-1943), Indp. war veteran, Head of Vilna Ghetto * Henryk Minkiewicz (1880-1940) a Polish socialist politician and a general of the Polish Army. Former commander of the Border Defence Corps, he was among the Polish officers murdered in the Katyń massacre * Jerzy Jan Jastrzębski (1895-1944) a certified Polish colonel of the Polish Army cavalry, who died in the Battle of Monte Casino * Romuald Minkiewicz (1878–1944) a Polish biologist, zoologist and botanist as well a writer, poet and social activist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marijampole Gymnasium Educational institutions established in 1867 Buildings and structures in Marijampolė Secondary schools in Lithuania 1867 establishments in the Russian Empire History of education in Lithuania