History-before-1900

BY VAL RAMONIS The Biržai and Rokiškis regions of northeast Lithuania offer the visitor beautiful sights and long-lasting memories. MOST TOURISTS VISITING LITHUANIA FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME usually travel in groups organized by travel agencies or tour operators. They are taken to Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Trakai, Neringa, and perhaps …

  The arrival of a painting on loan from a Polish museum has become one of the biggest events in Vilnius. FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY, LITHUANIA HAS BEEN WAITing for a nearly 50-square-meter painting. It has never been exhibited in Lithuania before, but every Lithuanian has seen copies of …

By Tomas Michalskis, PH.D   Saint Casimir ( Šventas Kazi ieras), Lithuania’s PATRON AND ONLY CANONIZED SAINT, WAS BORN INTO THE ILLUSTRIOUS LITHUANIAN DYNASTY OF GEDIMINAS in Cracow, Poland in 1458. He was the grandson of Jogaila, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who accepted Christianity and ascended the Polish throne in …

BY  TOMAS MICHALSKIS, PH.D. In Janury , 1889, th e first issue of  Varpas (The Bell) appeared. With it began a new stage in the history of the developm ent of the Lithuanian press. Varpas lasted until 1905, much longer than any other periodical in Lithuania at that time. With …

BY  VYTAS KERNIUS PALANGA  Yesterday ….. and Today Lithuania’s most popular beach resort is probably the finest in the Baltics. With its long history intertwined with legends, it looks to a bright future. PALANGA, Situated a few miles north of the port city of Klaipe­ da, is the most famous …

  The Saga of a Lithuanian Flying Machine Edward V. Gillis (Gylys) is the author of the still unpublished book, Growing Up Lithuanian in Old Lithuanian Town of Grand Rapids, Michigan. The book of over 500 manuscript pages deals with Lithuanian life in Grand Rapids from 1885 to 1940 and …

THE LITHUANIAN WOMAN IN LEGEND AND HISTORY No one has contributed more to the preservation o f Lithuania’s national identity — and perhaps its very existence — than the Lithuanian woman. Throughout all the turbulent times o f Lithuanian history; the Lithuanian woman played an important role and often assumed …

By RIMA MEDELIS Your Coat Of Arms Is Showing: An outline of Lithunian Heraldry HERALDRY—- AN OLD WORD DERIVED FROM GREEK -— is the art or science having to do with coats-of-arms. Heraldry is closely related with history, archaeology, numismatics, sphragistics (the study of seals), and particularly genealogy. It helps …

By Albert Cizauskas Apostle of the Alleghenies The first Catholic priest ordained in the United States , who received all his training here, was descended from one of Lithuania’s greatest rulers, Gediminas. Truth is stranger than , fiction and seldom was this more evident than in the life of Father …

by Tomas A. Michalskis,Ph.D. Vytautas the Great VYTAUTAS THE GREAT (1350- J1430), the eldest son of Birute rand Kestutis was born into a troubled world. It was a time in which the very existence of the Lithuanian people and emerging state were seriously threatened. Internally, Lithuania was both blessed and …