History-before-1900

BY K. PAUL ZYGAS The complete absence of gold or silver-bearing ores in their country has never stopped the Lithuanians from appreciating and crafting the noble metals. Jewelry found in archaeological sites reveals that silver has been prized and fashioned in Baltic lands continuously since times immemorial. While small deposits …

By K. Paul Žygas WHE THE BAJORAI ESTABLISHED A SOCIETY IN VILNIUS several years ago, the announcement was generally met with a fair measure of genuine surprise. Most everyone believed that, given the long record of assimilation, waves of deportation, and the generations lost through war, the bajorai had become …

By Tračevskis Rokas In western Lithuania there is a group of people who speak a different dialect and sometimes claim a different nationality. Still, they remain a part of Lithuania. Rokas M. Tračevskis reports on how the Samogitians became a “sub-nation” of Lithuania. WE ARE AN INTERNATIONAL FAMILY, SAID Vilma laughing, …

By K. Paul Žygas Those Magnificent Men in Their Winged Armor OF ALL THE ARMOR DISPLAYED IN THE ART ! Institute of Chicago, the “Half-armor for a hussar” invariably catches and holds the attention of every Lithuanian history buff. Worn by the crack hussar units of the Polish and Lithuanian …

Lithuania’s vast forest tracts were some of the last havens for two species of spectacular wildlife, the European bison and the aurochs, or stumbras and tauras respectively in Lithuanian. Archeologists have found images of these animals in cave paintings, clay figures, and carvings from the Stone Age. Similarly, the stumbras …

By: William J. Morrison THE NOBLE BEASTS OF THE LITHUANIA In 1517 Maciej from  Miechow, Master of the Krakow Academy included the following in a description h of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: “There are large territories covered with primeval forest, completely unpopulated, spreading for 10,15 and 25 miles. Only …

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 …