Vilnius

Русский модернистский кружок «Голубая келья» в Вильно начала XX века по рукописи архиепископа Виленского и Литовского Алексия (в миру Александра Петровича Дехтерева; 1889–1959) «Мой дневник „Борьба с символизмом“. Вильно 1913–1914–1915», хранящейся в Отделе рукописей Библиотеки Академии наук Литвы имени Врублевских: характеристика литературных ориентаций и круга чтения (Анна Ахматова, Александр Блок, Андрей Белый, Федор Сологуб, Николай Евреинов, Вячеслав Иванов, Иван Коневский, Михаил Кузмин, Осип Мандельштам и другие) участников кружка и его ближайшего окружения – поэт и эсперантист Георгия Дешкина, музыкальный педагог, пианист, композитор («Взвейтесь кострами») Сергей Кайдан-Дешкина, художник и поэт Владимир Девятнин, актер, впоследствии и кинорежиссер Михаил Доллер, поэт Евгений Краснянский, драматический артист и автор стихов Алексей Юркевич (его брат Мстислав – художник супрематист).

Pavel Lavrinec. “The Fight against Symbolism” by A. P. Dekhteriov
Before World War I, Russian literary circle of the modernist, mainly symbolist orientations, named “Blue cell”, was acting in Vilnius. The interests of participants of this group are characteristic and typical for Russian modernist literature of the beginning of 20th century. Valuable information about the participants of the group, their interests, creative preferences remained in a diary titled “The Fight against Symbolism” by one of the members, who later became Orthodox archbishop of Vilnius and Lithuania Aleksij (born Alexander Dekhteriov; 1889–1959), poet, writer, and publicist. The diary kept in the Manuscripts Department of the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. The article analyzes the program of the literary group and reconstructs its hierarchical structure (with the stages of initiation as a boy, a brother, a master), composition (painter and poet Vladimir Devyatnin, poet and esperantist Georgy Deshkin, poet Evgeny Krasnyansky and others) and range of reading of participants (including such authors as Aleksandr Blok, Andrey Bely, Anna Akhmatova, Mikhail Kuzmin etc.), which reflects the aesthetic attitudes of “brothers” and their “service to beauty”.

The article introduces the biographic notes of the countess Klementyna Tyszkiewicz (born Potocka, 1856 1921), the owner of an impressive city residence near the river Neris, known today as the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences. Neither the building nor the countess have been studied by researchers before. The article aims to present this aristocratic personality, the early influences on her character formation and explicate how her personal traits and taste shaped Vilnius cultural life during 1882–1913. The countess was born in Lviv into the influential Galician family of Alfred Józef Marian Potocki (1817– 1889) and Maria Klementyna Sanguszko (1830–1903). Most of her youth was spent in Vienna due to her father’s employment. Growing up in Vienna meant that she was introduced to the highest circles of society and maintained a close relationship with the children of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. She married a Lithuanian nobleman Jan Leon Tyszkiewicz (1852–1901) in 1878 and moved to Paris, spending approximately 4 years there. The couple came back to Vilnius in about 1882 where she gave birth to a son Alfred (1882–1930). Initially they resided in luxury apartments decorated by the famous architect Friedrich Gustaw von Schacht. In 1884, the construction of a new residence began following the project of Cyprian Maculewicz. The need for a personal residence was grown out of the countess’ desire to become an influential person in local society replicating her mother’s successful example back in Lviv. Klementyna Tyszkiewicz also wished to recreate a similar environment to the one she experienced in earlier days while living in Vienna and Paris. A big Renaissance style residence in the central part of Vilnius was completed in 1888. A new type of lifestyle typical of Europe’s richest aristocratic circles was introduced. It included endless receptions, visitations, luxurious banquets followed by dances, amateur theatre performances, billiard games and discussions. All feasts and gatherings were intended for a close circle of people, mainly the polish speaking aristocracy, as a way of discerning their identity and rejecting the regulations of the dictating tsarist government. A few important changes took place in the early 20th century. Having buried her daughter and husband in 1901, the countess closed the residence and left for Paris. Visiting only briefly, Klementyna Tyszkiewicz finally returned in 1905 upon hearing that Tsar Nicholas II had published a manifesto proclaiming “the civil liberty to the people based on individual inviolability, freedom of faith, speech, and social gatherings and associations”.
The Tyszkiewicz residence was reopened and gained a significantly wider social and cultural importance. It housed a Warsaw Art School students’ exhibition in 1907, an exhibition of Polish artists living locally and in Poland in 1908. The residence lodged Vilnius Science and Art Museum Association chaired by Władysław and Antoni Tyszkiewcz in 1907–1914, and organised many other charitable events. The public life of Klementyna Tyszkiewicz was not restricted to the palace as she was also a member of the Music Association and the main initiator of the Polish Theatre in Vilnius. The countess was regarded as a cultural patron of Vilnius until 1913 when she left the city for the last time. She died in Paris in 1921. The residential property was inherited by her son Alfred Tyszkiewicz who sold the palace to the Ministry of Polish Religion and Public Education, which later established the Wróblewski Library there.
Despite the contributions to Polish culture, Klementyna Tyszkiewicz was criticised by her contemporaries for leading a hedonistic lifestyle. This was claimed to be inappropriate in Vilnius at the times of resistance to the dictating tsarist government. Many years later history proved that the western lifestyle introduced by Klementyna Tyszkiewicz had significantly influenced the aristocratic and local culture at the turn of 19th and 20th centuries.

Jokūbas Gierkė (Jacob Gercke, Gerich, Gierke, Gierck, Geirke) was one of the most famous 17th century clockmakers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Vilnius craftsman is the only Lithuanian included in a directory of the world's best clockmakers. His mechanisms were interesting and important to the development of the craft, because he used nearly all the best achievements in clockmaking made by the middle of the 17th century, including the use of a pendulum in clocks. Table clocks made by J. Gierkė in 1626 - 1650 clearly showed his improving skills: each mechanism was increasingly intricate, included additional indications (calendar dates, the phases of the moon). Decoration of clocks could be compared to jewellery and showed quite a high level of Vilnius crafts achieved in the middle of the 17th century. Based on the old Vilnius archive materials and Polish archival data, this article considerably expands the knowledge of J. Gierkė’s personal life and family (wife and children), provides data on his business and the date of his death. It also discusses the technical qualities of clocks made by the craftsman and compares them with global achievements. A supplement to the article provides J. Gierkė’s letter, the last recognition of his financial status - a kind of a will and a list of clocks that have survived to date. There is only one clock made by the craftsman left in Lithuania; five clocks are at Polish museums. Keywords: development of crafts, historical clockmaking, Jokūbas Gierkė, Vilnius city residents.

"Amore, saltibarsciai e pomodori rossi" parla di Austeja, una ragazza lituana, e della sua storia d'amore, ambientata nella capitale Vilnius dopo l'indipendenza raggiunta nel 1990. Austeja parla italiano e crede di pensare italiano. E' non solo un romanzo incentrato sulla "cronaca in diretta" di un amore, ma anche un vero e proprio saggio sulla natura stessa dell'amore: si ama come la storia e la tradizione del proprio popolo insegnano ad amare; è la prospettiva che mette a fuoco i singoli individui che i secoli dimenticheranno. Ma l'amore sotto al piano storico è  anche indipendenza dalla Storia: è una forza che regola le simmetrie dell'infinitamente piccolo.
Il romanzo-saggio analizza, seziona e disseziona e rimette insieme i sentimenti dei protagonisti ad un ritmo vertiginoso che prende e coinvolge il lettore e non lo molla.

Yiddish scholar Zelig Kalmanovich was incarnated in the Vilna Ghetto following Nazi occupation and became a spiritual leader. He developed a philosophy of resistance based on learning from Jewish history and survival through keeping Jewish morals and humanity, engaging in cultural and educational endeavors and by doing so securing Jewish continuity. He rejected the military underground and supported the Judenrat's obedience to the Germans. This is the main reason for Kalmanovich's disregard from the collective history. Based on his diary, rare correspondence, and unique resources the article tells the story of an unusual man's philosophy of resisting in 'another way'.

The table of contents of a forthcoming book by Chana Stohrer-Beckerman "The Representation of the Mussar Movement and Jewish Vilna in the Prose of Chaim Grade", edited by Yechiel Szeintuch, will be issued soon by the Dov Sadan Publishing Project at the Hebrew University. The book analyses all the main prose books published by Chaim Grade in Yiddish. Hundreds of citations in Yiddish appear also translated into Hebrew. The book was edited on the basis of a Hebrew dissertation by the author, under the supervision of prof. Yehuda Friedlander at the University of Bar Ilan.

Vilnius Poker is a rich, but at the same time a demanding novel. In the original Lithuanian version, the author's masterful use of the language sweeps the reader through long passages with relative ease. In translation, the same passages would easily have become unwieldy, were it not for Elizabeth Novickas's superb English rendering. The publication of this work in 2009 is timely. Twenty years after "1989," it offers profound insights into the powerful and contradictory cultural processes that drove the velvet revolutions. And as Vilnius celebrates its status this year as a European Capital of Culture, Gavelis reminds us of the legacy of his city's darkest, most desperate days.

Recent years have seen the flourishing of research on Lithuanian Kabbalists in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, to the point that some scholars speak of a defined and delineated stream of Kabbalah, a school unto itself dubbed "Lithuanian Kabbalah." Such scholars include within this stream all those who saw the Vilna Gaon as their teacher in Kabbalah (parallel to the position of the Baal Shem Tov in Hasidism) and they ascribe to it such fixed categories as its "Articles of Faith." In their conception, this stream was part and parcel of the broader and well-known nationalist-messianic current that had its source, supposedly, in the Vilna Gaon himself; this current reached its full fruition in the twentieth century, and so too has the smaller stream within it, now a clearly defined "school," developed in various ways until the present. As if this were not enough, scholars have joined the later ideological trend which seeks to revise the history of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in a decidedly messianic way, presenting it in a continuous line from the Vilna Gaon to the emergence of Zionism and then to the founding of the State of Israel. Again, the Vilna Gaon is not merely presented as a "herald" of Zionism but as one who encoded within his Torah the secret of redemption, the beginning of which, apparently, we are witnessing today. The article conducts a critical analysis of the concept of "Lithuanian Kabbalah," and uses as its case study the life and teachings of Rabbi Shimon Tsvi Horowitz.


בשנים האחרונות צומח ועולה מחקר סביב למקובלים בני ליטא במאות התשע עשרה והעשרים, עד שיש כאלו המדברים על זרם מוגדר ומובחן, אסכולה בפני עצמה, המכונה 'קבלה ליטאית'. בתוך זרם זה כוללים את כל אלו שראו בגר"א את מורם בקבלה, כמעין בעש"ט לחסידות, ומונים קטגוריות מקובעות של 'עיקרי אמונה' של אותו זרם הרוכב על מהלך משיחי ולאומי ידוע שמקורו כביכול בגר"א עצמו והגיע לגמר בישולו במאה העשרים. עד שנוצר בעיני כמה חוקרים מעין 'חוג' ברור ומוגדר שמתגלגל באופנים שונים עד לימינו. אם לא די בכך, הרי שהמדברים על אותו זרם קבלי רוכבים למעשה על קו אידיאולוגי מאוחר שבא לפרש מחדש את ההיסטוריה של היישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל במאה התשע עשרה ברוח משיחית וליצור מעין המשכיות מימי הגר"א עד להופעתה של הציונות ולמאורעות שהתרחשו עם הקמת מדינת ישראל. שוב אין הגר"א מצטייר רק כ'מבשר' הציונות אלא כמי שצפן בתורתו את סוד הגאולה שאנו עומדים לכאורה בפתחה. המאמר עוסק בניתוח ביקורתי של המשוג "קבלת ליטאית" וכמקרה מבחן יש כאן דיון בדרכו של ר' שמעון צבי הורביץ

Артыкул прысвечаны “Апосталу” Ф. Скарыны, які пабачыў свет у сакавіку 1525 г. і стаў першым дакладна датаваным выданнем, выпушчаным ў Вялікім Княстве Літоўскім. Разглядаецца змест і структура, мастацкая аздоба і паліграфічнае выкананне выдання, аналізуюцца захаваныя ў свеце асобнікі і магчымасці вяртання кніжнага помніка ў навуковы і грамадскі ўжытак Беларусі.

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The article is devoted to the first exactly dated edition, "The Apostle" by F. Skaryna, printed in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Th e book was published in March 1525. Th e content and structure, artistic decoration and printing publication’s implementation are considered.

В статье рассматривается репрезентация пространства города Вильнюса в поэтических, прозаических, автодокументальных и других текстах И. Эренбурга, В. Луговского, Е. Долматовского, А. Исбаха (Бахрах), В. Устинова, Ю. Кобрина, Г. Кановича, А. Кленова (Купершток), Н. Старшинова, В. Огнева, В. Аксенова, К. Паустовского, Д. Самойлова (Кауфман), В. Рождественского, И. Бродского, созданных в период от конца 1940-х до начала 1980-х гг. Цель исследования состоит в выяснении стратегий присвоения Вильнюса. Анализ материала показал, что в образе столицы одной из трех прибалтийских советских республик комбинируются черты «другого» пространства, окрашенного умеренной экзотикой принадлежности к литовской национальной и западноевропейской культуре, и пространства «своего», к элементам которого относятся фигуры и эпизоды революционной и национально-освободительной борьбы, русской национальной истории и истории культуры. Эти элементы включают Вильнюс в русский исторический и культурный текст, вписывая город в советский исторический метанарратив, к чему и сводится его присвоение.

Semiotic analysis of Vilnius University,  developed in two parts: the object of study, the method used.  The object depends upon the method used, and the method has been adapted in order to consider the specific characters of the object.
The University of Vilnius has been considered from a spatial and semiotic point of view. If the present state of the buildings is directly accessible, a number of former states of evolution are described by plans kept within the archives of the Lituanian Ministry of Culture. The National Library of France keeps a collection of projects drawn in the XVI th and XVII th centuries for Vilnius University within the Society of Jesus. The semiotic analysis of such a syncretic corpus (buildings, technical plans, projects) imposes the consideration of social actors (teachers, students, technicians) and environmental actors (cold, fire, weather, age) whose interactions with space produce meaning.
The consecution of drawings allows the identification of spatial transformations. The arrangement of courtyards, their concatenation, their degrees of openness, produce successive meaning effects. The addition of porticoes during the XVII th century, their implantation mode, and their organization modify space, in its visual appearance and in its pragmatic use. The substitution of vaults to ceilings modifies the interior aspect of rooms, while it insures a better resistance to eventual fires, whose repetitive occurrence is registered in the archives.
Transformations point to spatial enunciative acts, because every constructive action can be interpreted as an enunciative act. What makes a considerable place for enunciative meanings in the analysis, at the expense of enuncive meanings.

Tiriamojo pobūdžio leidinio, kuriame būtų detaliai aprašomi šie istoriškai svarbioje Vilniaus vietoje esantys bunkerio ar sandėlio tipo įtvirtinimai, iki šiol nebuvo. Čia pateikiama visa iki šios dienos žinoma informacija apie po kalnu esančius karinės paskirties požemius – faktai, istorijos, pasakojimai, nuotraukos bei brėžiniai. Pažymėtina, jog pateikiamos publikacijos buvo išsamiai išstudijuotos, o šio leidinio tekstai daugiausia yra publikacijų santraukos ar ištraukos, jie parengti naudojantis įvairių autorių darbais, kurie nurodomi literatūros sąraše.

Šis leidinys skiriamas tyrėjams, istorikams ir plačiajai visuomenei savišvietos, mokymo bei mokslinių tyrimų tikslais. Mano nuomone, informacijos perrinkimas, atnaujinimas, sisteminimas leidžia prikelti faktus iš naujo, juos išsaugoti, išlaikyti aktualiais ilgesnį laiką.

Skaitykite Issuu platformoje: https://issuu.com/liudasbar/docs/gedimino_kalno_pozemiai

Žymos: Gedimino, kalno, tuneliai, bunkeriai, slėptuvė, požemiai

Pomimo prowadzonych od wielu lat badań nad historią miasta Wilna, wciąż niewiele wiemy o jego mieszkańcach, szczególnie ludziach drugiego i trzeciego planu historii, żyjących w cieniu wielkich dworów i pałaców. Równie słabo zbadane pozostają jurydyki wczesnonowożytnej stolicy Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego, w tym jurydyka kapituły wileńskiej. W oparciu o rękopiśmienny materiał źródłowy podjęta została próba jej zarysu oraz ukazania ludzi i problemów w niej zachodzących; jej zobrazowaniu posłużyć może załączony w aneksie Rejestr wybierania poboru z 1602 roku, dokument publikowany po raz pierwszy. Problemy własnościowe i personalne krzyżowały się w licznych sprawach związanych z występkami kanonika Izaaka Fechtinusa († 25 V 1607), który przez wiele lat gorszyć miał ulicę wileńską, mieszkańców miasta i kapitulnych konfratrów. Na przestrzeni kilkunastu lat wielokrotnie zarzucano kanonikowi nocne włóczęgi z podejrzanymi osobami, pijaństwo oraz utrzymywanie i mieszkanie z kobietami, najczęściej na terenie jurydyki kapitulnej. Bezskutecznie nakładano nań kary pieniężne, wstrzymywano wypłatę refekcji, grożono pozbawieniem kanonii, stosowano areszt domowy i zakazywano wstępu do Kościoła.

„Rasų kapinės – istorija, menas, gamta” tai pirmoji tokio pobūdžio įvairialypė ir turtinga studija, skirta Vilniaus nekropolijai. Įdomi problematika, autorių ir jų atstovaujamų akademinių mokslo įstaigų gausa, be to įvairialypis sepulkralinės tematikos nagrinėjimas sukuria harmoningą Rasų nekropolijos vaizdinį kaip Lenkijos ir Lietuvos kultūrinio paveldo liudijimą.

Do rąk Państwa trafi a pierwsza część diariusza prowadzonego przez Aleksandra Szklennika w Wilnie w czasie I wojny światowej. Jest to jedyny, tak obszerny i precyzyjny zapis życia codziennego miasta nad Wilią w okresie okupacji niemieckiej Ober-Ost. Relacja obejmuje różne aspekty życia, poczynając od warunków codziennej egzystencji mieszkańców, opisu działań władz niemieckich oraz reakcji na nie społeczności lokalnych (samorządowych, społecznych i narodowych), poprzez kronikę wydarzeń lokalnych, aż po wiele informacji z zakresu życia politycznego zarówno w wymiarze miejscowym, jak i ogólnopolskim, a nawet ogólnoeuropejskim i ogólnoświatowym. Umieszczenie w publikacji zebranych przez Szklennika i wklejonych między zapiski odręczne rozmaitych materiałów zewnętrznych – wycinków prasowych, druków ulotnych, ogłoszeń etc. nie tylko wzbogaca przekaz o rzeczywistości relacjonowanej przez autora, ale stanowi kapitalne źródło, służące rekonstrukcji zasobu informacji (także pogłosek i plotek funkcjonujących w obiegu publicznym), jakimi dysponowali uczestnicy ówczesnych wydarzeń.
Dziewięć zeszytów bieżących notatek Aleksandra Szklennika z okresu od maja 1915 do listopada 1918 r, opatrzono wspólnym tytułem: Wspomnienia o wydarzeniach w Wilnie i w kraju. Autor rozpoczął swe zapiski w Wilnie, w momencie przygotowań Rosjan do ewakuacji i oczekiwania mieszkańców na nowego okupanta.
W tekst pierwszego zeszytu wpleciona jest niezwykle ciekawa relacja, opisująca obserwacje autora powracającego do Wilna przez Kraków, Jędrzejów i Kielce pełne legionistów. (Wybuch wojny zaskoczył autora w trakcie kuracji w Truskawcu.) Tom pierwszy tej edycji kończy zapis z marca 1917 r., z ostatniego dnia zanim do Wilna dotarły pierwsze konkretne informacje o wydarzeniach w Petersburgu. Tom drugi obejmować będzie wydarzenia od rewolucji lutowej do końca zapisów, tzn. do 31 października 1918 r.

Do rąk Państwa trafi a pierwsza część diariusza prowadzonego przez Aleksandra Szklennika w Wilnie w czasie I wojny światowej. Jest to jedyny, tak obszerny i precyzyjny zapis życia codziennego miasta nad Wilią w okresie okupacji niemieckiej Ober-Ost. Relacja obejmuje różne aspekty życia, poczynając od warunków codziennej egzystencji mieszkańców, opisu działań władz niemieckich oraz reakcji
na nie społeczności lokalnych (samorządowych, społecznych i narodowych), poprzez kronikę wydarzeń lokalnych, aż po wiele informacji z zakresu życia politycznego zarówno w wymiarze miejscowym, jak i ogólnopolskim, a nawet ogólnoeuropejskim i ogólnoświatowym. Umieszczenie w publikacji zebranych przez Szklennika i wklejonych między zapiski odręczne rozmaitych materiałów zewnętrznych – wycinków prasowych, druków ulotnych, ogłoszeń etc. nie tylko wzbogaca przekaz o rzeczywistości relacjonowanej przez autora, ale stanowi kapitalne źródło, służące rekonstrukcji zasobu informacji (także pogłosek i plotek funkcjonujących w obiegu publicznym), jakimi dysponowali uczestnicy ówczesnych wydarzeń.
Dziewięć zeszytów bieżących notatek Aleksandra Szklennika z okresu od maja 1915 do listopada 1918 r, opatrzono wspólnym tytułem: Wspomnienia o wydarzeniach w Wilnie i w kraju. Autor rozpoczął swe zapiski w Wilnie, w momencie przygotowań Rosjan do ewakuacji i oczekiwania mieszkańców na nowego okupanta.
W tekst pierwszego zeszytu wpleciona jest niezwykle ciekawa relacja, opisująca obserwacje autora powracającego do Wilna przez Kraków, Jędrzejów i Kielce pełne legionistów. (Wybuch wojny zaskoczył autora w trakcie kuracji w Truskawcu.) Tom pierwszy tej edycji kończy zapis z marca 1917 r., z ostatniego dnia zanim do Wilna dotarły pierwsze konkretne informacje o wydarzeniach w Petersburgu. Tom drugi obejmować będzie wydarzenia od rewolucji lutowej do końca zapisów, tzn. do 31 października 1918 r.

A. Šapoka was the first Lithuanian historian who undertook scholarly research of the past of Vilnius; his synthesis “Senasis Vilnius” (“Old Vilnius”), published in 1963, was the first
Lithuanian extensive scholarly history of the old Vilnius (until the end of the XVIIIth
century). On the eve of World War II, A. Šapoka’s works about Vilnius shifted from
the topics of political history to those of social economy, especially in cities, but did not
lose the scholarly value to this day.
This volume of “Works” materialises an idea, raised in 1996, to make a new edition
of A. Šapoka’s research on Vilnius history, to use this research and increase its popularity.
These are the pieces of research on Vilnius city history by A. Šapoka included in the
volume: articles (5), reviews (2), studies (2 partly different versions in Lithuanian and
English), synthesis (1), source publications (1) – a total of 11 pieces of text different in
volume and character. These were published in Lithuania (1939); while the author lived
in exile in Toronto, Canada (1952-1960) and eventually after A. Šapoka’s death (1960-
1962). To some extent it would be possible to include a few more texts by A. Šapoka
to topics about Vilnius – a group of texts “Mūsų santykių su lenkais klausimu” (“On
the Question of Our Relationship with the Polish People”) in which he analyses the
relationships of Lithuanians and Poles through the history. However, seeking to avoid
“cutting down” the texts, they were not included in this volume and will be published
later. The study in English “Vilnius in the Life of Lithuania”, published in 1962, after
A. Šapoka’s death, is not translated into Lithuanian language. The language of all texts,
spelling of personal and geographical names, were uniformed and amended minimally.
This critical publication of scientific sources consists of these parts: 1. Introduction
that discusses A. Šapoka’s position in the research of Vilnius history, published texts
and the principles of their preparation to the press; 2. The texts; 3. Commentaries (textual
and factual); 4. List of abbreviations; 5. Appendices (bibliography of sources and
literature used by A. Šapoka); 6. List of illustrations; 7. Index of biographical names; 8.
Index of geographical names; 9. Summary in English.
When preparing the texts for print, it was strived to compare the publications
with manuscripts, especially this was true about the texts that were published after the
death of A. Šapoka and thus final versions of which could not be influenced by the author.
The most relevant case of this matter was the biggest and most important piece
of A. Šapoka’s research of Vilnius history – the synthesis “Senasis Vilnius” (“Old Vilnius”),
that was published in 1963, where the history of the Lithuanian capital before
the end of XVIII th century was discussed (manuscripts are kept in museum-archive of
Lithuanian Museum-Archives of Canada). This text was edited with renewed factual
information in an effort to convey A. Šapoka’s text as authentically as possible, often
outlining more important distortions, error rectifications, etc. of the 1963 publication
in the commentaries.
The possibilities to compare other texts with the surviving manuscripts were also
used, for instance the publication of the sources in 1941 “Trys dokumentai iš XVI a.
pabaigos bylos dėl Vilniaus vyskupo paskyrimo” (“Three Documents from the End of
XVI Century Case on the Appointment of Vilnius Bishop”) (the manuscript is kept in
the Wróblewski Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences); the study “Vilnius
Lietuvos gyvenime” (“Vilnius in the Life of Lithuania”), published in 1954, was compared
with its manuscript, edited around 1942-1943 (kept in Martynas Mažvydas National
Library of Lithuania). In the latter case it was important to trace the evolution of
the structure and contents of this A. Šapoka’s text.
It is important to note that before A. Šapoka, thus before 1939, there was little
accomplished in the historiography of Vilnius compared to the field of the Lithuanian
history in general.
A. Šapoka himself pointed that “from 1923 when P. Klimas published “Mūsų
kovos dėl Vilniaus” (“Our Fights for Vilnius”) no more Lithuanian studies appeared
that would highlight all the essence of Vilnius issue. Only the harm to the Lithuanian
nation done by the occupants and the sufferings of enslaved people were raised, as if, in
such a way the Vilnius problem was made topical.” Thus the years of fight for Vilnius
had paradoxically little effect on Lithuanian historical writing, rather, on the contrary,
motivated to limit oneself with the short statement of Vilnius being the historical capital
of Lithuania and the analysis of political topicalities. Therefore it seems that precisely A. Šapoka might be justifiably called the first Lithuanian researcher, historian-scholar of Vilnius history.
A. Šapoka was probably best befitted to create the late Lithuanian version of Vilnius
history due to his biography and ideological views. And it was “late” because authorities
and historians regarded the most important task to be creating a version of Lithuanian
history of all Lithuania. Due to the specifics of its historical process, primarily
being multinational and multicultural according to the contemporary vision, Vilnius
could not be its framework. But perhaps the most important fact was that during that
time it belonged to Poland. A. Šapoka used the earlier (the end of XIXth and the beginning
of XXth century) Lithuanian historian publicist tradition of Vilnius and his
experience as the editor of 1936 “Lietuvos istorijos” (“The History of Lithuania”) in his
synthesis. A. Šapoka was the first to create and develop the Lithuanian version of Vilnius
history in Lithuanian historiography. Due to the tragic events in the middle of XXth
century, he was forced to go into exile, quit academic career; he was not able to substantiate
it extensively and finish his plan to write the history of Vilnius in several volumes.
One could note that in spite of A. Šapoka’s early interest in Vilnius topics, the first
printed scientific texts on the subject of Vilnius appeared only in 1939, after Vilnius was
given to Lithuania.
It is possible to name these statements as fundamental to A. Šapoka:
Vilnius and Vilnius region are Lithuanian land from early ages, It is the cradle and core of old Lithuanian state, Here the most important centres of Lithuanian people’s political, cultural and economic
life have grown, All the famous historical events of Lithuania are related to Vilnius, Here the most important treasures of Lithuanian people’s historical life are accumulated, This is the place of religion shrines,
Legally and spiritually Vilnius stayed a part of Lithuania even at the time of interwar Polish occupation.
One may not call these anything other than mythologised but conceptual Lithuanian
version of Vilnius history. It expressed and shaped views of a major part of LithADOLFAS
uanian society on the Vilnius topic. Vilnius and its region being received back by Lithuania
in 1939 was regarded as historically and lawfully justified “return” from Polish
occupation, certain kind of justice restoration. A. Šapoka notes that Lithuania never
recognised the incorporation of historical Lithuanian capital and its region into the
Polish state, as even in the 1928 and 1938 year constitutions Vilnius was regarded as
the capital of the country. This “Lithuanian” conception was also politically important.
Its importance became apparent when comparing it, for instance, to the contemporary
“Polish” arguments: after the fall of the Russian Empire, according to the international
law, Polish and Lithuanian state in union should have been re-established which had
existed after the constitution of 1791 3rd of May, where the name of separate Lithuania
was not mentioned and Vilnius as its capital even more so. Separate Grand Duchy of
Lithuania could not have been re-established, because the situation of the end of XVIIIth
century and not the end of XIVth or the middle of XVIth must have been restored. Independent
Lithuanian state, which was created only on ethnographical principle, that
was clashing with the national and civic situation of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, could
not claim its historical heritage and also claim that Vilnius belonged to it, because Vilnius
had to belong to Poland because namely Poland was the assignee of rights of the
old Poland-Lithuania state. Thus the so called “Lithuania of Kaunas” was part of the
illegitimately split state, illegal neologism.
Understandably in such situation, next to the nationally, culturally limited and
mythologised Polish, Russian, Belarusian and other versions of Vilnius history, an
equally limited and mythologised Lithuanian version originated. A different, modern
version of Vilnius history at that time would have been a failure like the democracy of
nobility in Poland and Lithuania during the XVIIIth century when absolutism dominated
in the neighbouring countries.
For methodology, it is worth to emphasize the exceptional A. Šapoka’s synthetic
skills. During the interwar historiography, precisely he and J. Jakštas were the best
“synthetics”. These, possibly innate, A. Šapoka’s qualities were ideal for creating big
Lithuanian historical narratives.
The Lithuanian conception of city history, developed in A. Šapoka’s investigations
of Vilnius history, is valuable. As one of the great naratives, it is important in creating
a modern, historical conception of Lithuanian capital that properly exhibits multireligious, multinational and multicultural nature of Vilnius, for which the major part of historians and societies of Lithuanian and neighbouring countries are ready.

For a few decades in the later seventeenth century, the Pac family (Pacai in Lithuanian) became the leading magnate clan in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The achievements and careers of clergymen from the family in state and ecclesiastical structures indicate their significance and position in the system of power at that time. While the 1660s and 1670s were for the Pac family a golden baroque age, the family's bumpy rise during the previous century and a half also merits examination. The article seeks to identify the factors conditioning careers in the context of the position of the family and to characterize the bishops (or nominated bishops) from this family. Over four generations, it is possible to observe a slow and far from stable process in which the bishops Pac aimed less to wield power than to satisfy their own ambitions. During this period, which saw the swift advance of the Reformation turn into the triumph of the Counter-Reformation, these ambitions turned upside down — between marriage and mitre.

The Battle of Orsha Painting – its Genesis, Dating,
Iconographical Sources – and the Paiting of the Battle
on the Kropiwna River and Other Battle Representations
in the Radziwiłłs Palace in Vilnius

The article is a critical review of the most important opinions of researchers on the
questions of genesis and dating of the Battle of Orsha panel painting (National Museum in Warsaw, cat. no. MP 2475). After the dendrochronological dating of its wooden support conducted in 1992 the painting can be dated to the 1530s–1540s. It is attributed to an artist infl uenced by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Dieter Koepplin’s suggestion to attribute the painting to Hans Krell (d. 1565) remains a hypothesis with no source evidence. Possible models of the scenes and fi gures presented in the painting had been seen before, i.a. in engravings by Niklas Stoer (d. ca. 1562–1563). He continued to an appreciable extent topics and style of Erhard Schoen (d. 1542), also associated with Nürnberg, and it is possible to indicate in their works a number of probable inspirations of the author of the Battle of Orsha [in 1540s]. The sources known today do not allow to associate the genesis and early history of the painting with Cracow and the royal residence at Wawel Castle. The results of dendrochronological dating, together with the mentioned engraving analogies as well as the realism of both facial expressions and weaponry of Muscovian soldiers suggest that the painter could have personally seen prisoners of the Starodub War (1534–1537) hold in Vilnius (Alexei Lobin’s remarks) and sketched from nature elements of Muscovian weapons and armature. The painter could have been brought to Vilnius from Königsberg at the time when King Sigismund II Augustus was furnishing and decorating with works of art his Vilnius residence, and also fi nanced a construction of a residence of Mikołaj Radziwiłł called Rudy (the Red) in Pushkarnia in Vilnius. An analysis of badges painted on the banners allows us to exclude a hypothesis that the painting was founded by the Ostrogskis. It should be borne in mind that the painting was cut on three sides, which distorted the original composition and ground (thus preventing a complete verification of the dendochronological and iconographical analyses). The 1620 inventory registers of the Radziwiłłs’ residence in Vilnius mention a picture from the dining hall presenting the Battle of the Kropiwna River (this was the name given in several sources to the Battle of Orsha) and eighteen other paintings of other battles (of unknown names).
We are justifi ed in thinking that the topic of those paintings was identical to that of the images of battles which have been preserved in the form of thirteen drawings (copied at the end of the 18th century at Nesvizh for King Stanislaw Augustus Poniatowski), presenting battles and sieges of 1527–1581, in which participated the Radziwiłłs of the Biržai line. Latin metrical inscriptions accompanying these battle representations indicate that their originals were made before the death of Mikołaj Radziwiłł the Red (1584), and that the first preserved composition (Battle of Olszanica, 1527) was preceded by at least one representation of military victory fought under King Sigismund I the Old. A 1620 reference to the painting of the Kropiwna River battle (that is the Orsha battle) at the Vilnius palace of the Radziwiłłs strengthens Piotr Oszczanowski’s hypothesis that the paintings registered in the chattel inventories of the Radziwiłłs (evacuated from Vilnius in fear of a Muscovite invasion of 1655) defined as panel paintings of very large size depicting fi ghts
“with Muscovy” could be identifi ed with the painting of the Battle of Orsha from the
National Museum in Warsaw. The hypotheses presented in the article, especially those on heraldic and vexillological issues and alleged history of the painting need to be verifi ed through a broadened source research and renewed analyses of the painting itself together with its wooden support.

The tomb and commemoration of Grand Duke Alexander Vytautas
in the Vilnius cathedral in the context of the commemoration
of Władysław Jagiełło (Jogaila) in the Kraków cathedral and Jagiellonian
propaganda in the fourteenth–sixteenth centuries

The article is a critical analysis of the burial and commemoration of Grand Duke of Lithuania,
Alexander Vytautas the Great (ca 1350–1430) in the Vilnius cathedral and at the same
time an attempt to revise the previous historiography dealing with the subject. The author
examines the question of the location of the tomb, its original form, especially the shape and
placement of the tombstone funded in 1535 by Queen Bona Sforza and made by Bernardino
de Gianotis. He also discusses the commemoration of Vytautas with regard to the Jagiellons’
dynastic propaganda (in connection with the beginning of the cult of St. Casimirus) and
creation of memorial sites. The author presents the hitherto unused handwritten copy of the
inscription from Vytautas’ tombstone from the mid-16th century, different in the formulation
of the content of the inscription from its well-known version from the second half of the 17th
century. In addition, he comments on the story of the burial and commemoration of Alexander
Vytautas from the second half of the 17th century to the 20th century, referring also to some
insinuations concerning the purported discovery of the Grand Duke’s tomb and its robbery by
Poles in the first half of the 20th century.

"Isole di felicità" ("Laimės salos" sottotitolo lituano) ha per protagonista una piccola famiglia lituana, che cerca la felicità negli svolgimenti della storia moderna lituana, nell’evolversi della società. La felicità che Rūta, la protagonista femminile del libro, cerca è una felicità pratica, una felicità che si sforza di individuare e raggiungere (di costruirsi) attimo dopo attimo, giorno dopo giorno, mese dopo mese, e la cerca soprattuto nell'amore con Diego, italiano di passaggio da Vilnius. E' una ricerca paragonabile al navigare a vista in un oceano alla ricerca di un’isola che ti protegga per un po’ dalla furia delle onde. Un romanzo, molto delicato, toccante, costruito intorno ad un personaggio semplice ma inquieto, che è Rūta. Un romanzo che ha attinto a stili e generi diversi, per dare forma a un tema che sfugge, si inerpica in visioni e angolature diverse ma sempre contenute e di rara sensibilità. 

Famous Vilnian Czesław Miłosz once wrote in his «Dialogue about Vilnius»: «neither is it Poland, nor Lithuania; neither the countryside, nor the capital». The lawyer Tadeusz Wróblewski, when asked by Count von Pfeil in September 1915 as the Germans were entering the city, stated as follows: «The intelligentsia and bourgeoisie are Poles, while the masses are heterogeneous, representing various tribes and faiths <…> Actually, we do not know ourselves (what country this is. — J. G.-K.), as it all depends on where we stand: Christianity and culture as a whole were introduced here by Poles, who funded the schools and the university; but recently, the country has entirely been Russian on the outside and Polish life was being suppressed with most effort»

This volume is dedicated to the statutes of the Vilnan and Samogitian chapters, monuments of ecclesiastical legislation which have hitherto escaped the particular attention of researchers. The objects of the research seems to be all the more relevant given that they testify to the ‘golden age’ of legal codification in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During the sixteenth century three versions of the Lithuanian Statute, that is the civil law code, were prepared. It was even earlier that the first version of the statutes of the chapter of Vilna was composed. It is traditionally dated to 1515, and so research on the Vilnan statutes can also be regarded as an act of homage to this monument of ecclesiastical legislation on its five-hundredth anniversary....

Holocaust mass grave sites in eastern Europe can be difficult to investigate due to a paucity of historical documentation relating to the events and because using traditional invasive archaeology methods raises concerns around the disturbance of the remains of Jewish people. When combined with other lines of evidence, including historic photos and eyewitness testimony, non-invasive geophysical methods help to effectively identify and demarcate buried features at Holocaust sites, limiting unnecessary excavations. Between 1941 and 1944, as many as 100,000 people were murdered at the Ponary (Paneriai) extermination site in Lithuania, but many critical details of the site layout during this period are still to be resolved, including the location of some of the mass graves and confirmation of an escape tunnel that was used by slave labourers to escape captivity and certain death at the site. In this study, we show how a combination of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) profiling, limited ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data, and bare-earth elevation data (from a light and distance ranging (LiDAR) dataset) were used to confirm the location of a large unmarked mass grave with a diameter of ~25 metres and depth of ~4 metres. Additional ERT profiling at a second location imaged the entrance to an escape tunnel previously uncovered by an archaeological excavation in 2004, and detected a ~5 metre section of the continuation of the tunnel, approximately 33 metres away from the tunnel entrance. The geophysical results are supported by evidence from limited archaeological excavations, historical photographs, eyewitness descriptions of the site layout, and testimonies from the few survivors who managed to escape Ponary.

The Vilnius Cathedral Chapter and the Jews in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries: Cases from the Acts of the Cathedral Chapter.

Relations between the Jewish population of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Roman Catholic clergy have an extensive scholarly literature. However, the quantity of work is not always matched by a comprehensive approach to these complex and wide ranging problems. The most prominent in the literature hitherto have been confessional conflicts, which is understandable, because it was on the basis of religious distinctiveness that the Catholic side most frequently acted against those who kept the Old Covenant. These attacks were also the most far-reaching in their consequences. However, mutual relations were by no means restricted to such conflicts. There is no doubt that economic contacts of various kinds comprised some of the principal links between the Catholic clergy and Jews. This paper signals the diverse relations linking the Vilnius cathedral chapter with Jews in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, mainly in the light of the protocols of the sessions of the Vilnius chapter. Catholic and Jewish religious authorities alike sought to restrict contacts between Christians and Jews – they officially opposed mixed relationships. In practice the borders could be crossed. Marital bonds between a Catholic and a non-Christian partner were preceded by the conversion of the latter, which was a source of great distress to the rabbis. They in turn treated informal sexual relations between Jews and Gentiles as idolatry. Formal prohibitions and both secular and canon law restricted, but could not wholly prevent personal contacts between individual priests and the chapter as a whole and Jews, which we may generally characterize as correct.

Исследование состоит в выяснении структурно-композиционных особенностей и, как правило, не выраженных эксплицитно критериев отбора материала в путеводителях по Вильнюсу Киркора, Добрянского, Виноградова, Тасселькраута, изданных на русском языке до Первой мировой войны.

A translation of a Latin fragment from a 16th century Franciscan chronicle Memoriale Ordinis Fratrum Minorum by fr. Ioannes de Komorowo (published in Monumenta Poloniae Historica, t. V, Lwów). The segment is concerned with the fate of late Grand Duchess of Lithuania Helena (1476-1513), daughter of Ivan III of Russia and consort of Alexander Jagiellonian, Grand Duke of Lithuania and subsequently King of Poland. The chronicler narrates Helena's struggles trying to flee to Moscow after the death of her Catholic husband, Alexander, her alleged poisoning arranged by Lithuanian lords, intrigued by her treasures deposited in the Franciscan convent of Vilnius. This translation of the chronicle is accompanied by a brief introduction and commentaries.

Mi köti össze Litvánia fővárosát, a lengyelországi Alsó-Szilézia és az ukrajnai Galícia központját? Wrocław, L’viv és Vilnius múltját és részben a jelenét összefűzi az etnikai és vallási sokszínűségük és a határmenti mivoltuk. A határmentiségnek nemcsak földrajzi jelentése van, hanem elsősorban annak hangsúlyozása, hogy ezen városok sok évszázadon keresztül etnikai, kulturális határmezsgyén feküdtek: ahol találkozott a latin Nyugat a bizánci Kelettel, ahol Közép-Európa az „igazi”  Nyugattal vagy a skandináv kultúrkörrel; ahol a kereszténység három nagy ágának (katolicizmus, protestantizmus, ortodoxia) követői éltek egymás mellett, és ahol hosszú ideig jelen voltak a jelentős kulturális eredményeket felmutató, anyagi értelemben is gazdag zsidó közösségek. Wrocław/Breslau,  L’viv/Lwów/Lvov/Lemberg és Vilnius/Wilno/Vilna egyszerre határmenti város és centrum, és ez a kettősség meghatározza jellegüket nemcsak az elmúlt évszázadokban, hanem a jelenben is.

Tai straipsnis apie Vilniaus "Civitas Ruthenica" pradžią. Iš kolektyvinės monografijos, kuri atsirado lietuvių ir ukrainiečių mokslininkų bendradarbiavimo dėka, 2017 m.

Knyga parengta ir išleista vykdant projektą: "Stačiatikių ir unitų visuomenės Lietuvos Didžiojoje Kunigaikštystėje: istorija, kultūra, atmintis" Projektą parėmė: Lietuvos mokslo taryba (projekto finansavimo sutartis TAP LU-6-2016), Ukrainos švietimo ir mokslo ministerija, projektas "Vieningoji Ukraina ir Kijevo krikščioniškoji tradicija" Vertėjas (lietuvių ir ukrainiečių kalbos) Vasilis Kapkanas Viršelio nuotraukos autorius Algimantas Aleksandravičius ISBN 978-609-459-949-1 ISBN 978-609-459-948-4 (skaitmeninis PDF) Leidinio bibliografinė informacija pateikiama Lietuvos nacionalinės Martyno Mažvydo bibliotekos Nacionalinės bibliografijos duomenų banke (NBDB)