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Revision as of 14:15, 19 May 2005
Vilnius University (Lithuanian Vilniaus Universitetas is the oldest and biggest university in Lithuania.
History
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
In 1568 the local nobles asked the Jesuits to open an academy either in Vilnius or Kaunas. The following year Valerijonas Protasevičius, the bishop of Vilnius, bought several houses in the city centre and started Vilnius Academy. Initially the Academy had three divisions: humanistic, philosophical and theological. The first students joined the Academy in 1570. Also the library that will become the library of Vilnius University is established the same year, with books donated mostly by the founder.
On April 1, 1579 Grand Duke Steponas Batoras upgraded the academy. His edict was approved by pope Gregory XIII's bull of October 30, 1579. The first rector of the Academy was Piotr Skarga. He invited many notable scientists from all over the Europe and founded the library, that was later sponsored by many notable persons: Sigismund II Augustus, bishop Valerijonas Protasevičius and marshal of the crown Kazimieras Leonas Sapiega.
In 1575 duke Mikalojus Kristupas Radvila and Elžbieta Oginskienė sponsored a printing house for the academy, one of the first in the region. The printing house issued books in latin and Polish, and in 1595 the first book in Lithuanian was released - Catechismusa Prasty Szadei (Simple Words of Catechism) by Martynas Mažvydas.
The period of the Academy's development lasted until 17th century. The following period of The Deluge led to a dramatical drop both in the number of students and the quality of studies. In the middle 18th century the educational authorities tried to restore the Academy. This led to foundation of the first observatory in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and fourth professional such facility in Europe) founded in 1753 by Tomas Žebrauskas. The Commission of National Education took over the Academy in 1773 and reformed it into a modern university. Thanks to the rector of the Academy, Martynas Počobutas, the Academy was granted the status of the Principal School (Szkoła Główna) in 1783. The Commission of National Education, the secular authority governing the academy after the dissolution of the Jesuit order, prepared a new statute.
Tsarist Russia occupation
After the Partitions of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Vilnius was annexed by Russia. However, the Commission retained control over the Academy until 1803, when tsar Alexander I of Russia accepted the new statute and renamed the Academy to Imperial University of Vilnius. The institution was granted the right of administration of all educational facilities in the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Among the notable personae were the curator (governor) Adomas Jurgis Čartoriskis, rector Jonas Sniadeckis
The university flourished. By 1823 it was one of the biggest in Europe (with number of students exceeding that of the Oxford University). A number of students are arrested in 1823 for conspiracy against the tsar. Among them is Adomas Mickevičius, one of the most important poets of the time. In 1832 after the November Uprising the University was closed by tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Two of the faculties were turned into two separate schools: Medical and Surgical Academy and Roman-Catholic Academy, but those were banned shortly afterwards (1842). The reppressions after the failed uprising included banning both the Lithuanian language and Polish languages and all education in those languages was halted. Finally all the property of the University was confiscated and sent to Russia (mostly to St. Petersburg).
After 1918
In 1918 Vilnius University was restored by Lithuanian State Taryba.
After the occupation of Vilnius by Bolsheviks in January, 1919, they planed to establish communist university.
After Vilnius region first time was occupied by Poland, on August 20, 1919 by the act of Józef Piłsudski the academy was restored under the new name of Stefan Batory University (Uniwersytet Stefana Batorego). After liberation of Vilnius in August, 1920 Vilnius University continued its activity. But capital was occupied second time by poles on October 9, 1920 and university was changed again to polish university. This university quickly became a nest of polonisation for occupied territories.
In 1938 polish university had:
- 7 Institutes
- 123 professors
- 104 different scientifical units (including two hospitals)
- 3110 students
World War II
Following the outbreak of the World War II the University was closed. However, soon after the city was seized by the Soviet Union most of the professors returned and most faculties were reopened on October 1, 1939. On October 28 Vilnius returned to Lithuania. On December 15, 1939 the government of Lithuania decided to liquidate the Polish University, because this university became a polonisation nest for occupied territories in time of polish occupation (1920 - 1939).
In early 1940 the University was re-opened as Vilnius University. The former students were not allowed to continue their studies. Following the occupation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union the lectures in Polish were re-introduced, however most of the professors were soon arrested and sent to prisons and gulags in Russia and Kazakhstan.
The city was occupied by Germany in 1941 and Vilnius University continued its activity. But in 1943 Vilnius an Kaunas Universities were closed by Nazis because of boycott by Lithuanians of "Lithuanian Waffen SS Legion" unit. After the second Soviet occupation in 1944 University was reopened by the Soviets like Soviet high school.
After 1945
After the war the University was renamed to Vincas Kapsukas University for Lithuanian SSR. Though restrained by the Soviet system, Vilnius University grew and gained significance. Vilnius University started to free itself from the Soviet ideology in 1988 thanks to the glasnost policy. On March 11, 1990 Lithuania declared independence and the University regained authonomy. Since 1991, the University of Vilnius has been a Signatory to the Magna Charta of the European Universities. The University is a member of the European University Association (EUA) and the Conference of Baltic University Rectors.
Notable professors and alumni
- Sorted in alphabetical order
- Juozapas Mykolas Chominskis, musicologist
- Adomas Jurgis Čartoriskis
- Simonas Daukantas, philologist
- Ignas Domeika, later founder of the Santiago de Chile University
- Gottfried Erns Groddeck, medician
- Johann Peter Frank, medician
- Josef Frank, medician
- Stanislovas Bonifacijus Jundzilas, biologist
- Daniel Klein, reformer of the Lithuanian language grammar
- Juozas Ignotas Kraševskis, writer
- Žygimantas Liauksminas, philosopher
- Joachimas Lelevelis, historian and politician
- Henryk Łowmiański, historian
- Adomas Mickevičius, poet
- Czesław Miłosz
- Ignas Onacevičius, Lithuanian scientist and Belarusiann national revival pioneer
- Jan Szczepan Otrębski, philologist, professor of Lithuanian and German languages
- Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski, famous Latin language poet
- Piotr Skarga
- Kazimieras Semenavičius, famous Lithuanian artillery engineer, constructor and pioneer of rocketry
- Julius Slovackis, poet
- Jonas Sniadeckis, astronomer, mathematician, physicist
- Jurgis Sniadeckis, chemician and medician
- Albertas Vijūkas-Kojelavičius, historian, author of the first History of Lithuania
- Jan Fryderyk Wolfgang, biologist
- Jakub Wujek, first translator of the Bible to the Polish language
- Tomas Zan, poet
Honorary Doctors of Vilnius University
- Jan Safarewicz, Full Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor, Cracow Jagellonian University (1979)
- Zdenek Češka, Associate Member of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Rector of Charles University, Prague (1979)
- Werner Scheler, Professor, Germany (1979)
- Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania (1989)
- Czeslaw Olech, Director of International Mathematical Banach Centre, Member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Professor, Warsaw University (1989)
- Christian Winter, Professor, Frankfurt am Main University (Germany) (1989)
- Vaclovas Dargužas (Andreas Hofer), Doctor of Medicine (Switzerland) (1991)
- Edvardas Varnauskas, Doctor of Medicine, Professor (Sweden) (1992)
- Martynas Yčas, Professor, New York State University (1992)
- Paulius Rabikauskas, Professor, Gregorius University (Rome, Italy) (1994)
- Tomas Remeikis, professor, Indiana Calumet College (USA) (1994)
- William Schmalstieg, Professor, Pennsylvania University (USA) (1994)
- Vladimir Toporov, Professor, Institute of Slavonic Languages, Russian Academy of Sciences (1994)
- Vaclav Havel, President of the Czech Republic (1996)
- Alfred Laubereau, Head of the Experimental Physics Department, Munich Technical University, Professor, Bairoit University (1997)
- Nikolaj Bachalov, Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Head of the Computational Mathematics Department, Faculty of Mathematics, Moscow M. Lomonosov University (1997)
- Rainer Eckert, Professor, Director of the Institute of Baltic Studies, Greifswald University (1997)
- Juliusz Bardach, Professor, Warsaw University (Poland) (1997)
- Theodor Hellbrugge, founder and Head of the Munich Children Centre, Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Professor, Munich University (Germany) (1998)
- Friedrich Scholz, Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Baltic Studies, Professor, Munich University (Germany) (1998)
- Zbigniew Brzezinski, Professor, Advisor of the government of USA (1998)
- Maria Wasna, Doctor, Professor, psychologist, Rector of Münster University (Germany) (1999)
- Ludwik Piechnik, Professor of History, Cracow Papal Theological Academy (Poland) (1999)
- Sven Lars Caspersen, Professor of Economics, President of the World Rector’s Association, Rector of Aalborg University (Denmark) (1999)
- Wolfgang Schmid, Professor, Göttingen University (Germany) (2000)
- Eduard Liubimskij, Professor, Moscow University (Russia) (2000)
- Andrzej Zoll, Professor, Jagellonian University in Kraków (Poland) (2002)
- Dagfinn Moe, Professor, Bergen University (Norway) (2002)
- Jurij Stepanov, Professor, Moscow University (Russia) (2002)
- Ernst Ribbat, Professor, Münster University (Germany) (2002)
- Sven Ekdahl, Professor, Prussian Secret Archives in Berlin (Germany) (2004)
- Peter Ulrich Sauer, Professor, Hanover University (Germany) (2004)
- Peter Gilles, Professor, Johan Wolfgang Goethe University (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (2004)
- Francis Robicsek, Professor, Carolinas Heart Institute at Carolinas Medical Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) (2004)
University now
In modern times, the University still offers studies with a strong recognized content by well-known Lithuanian scientists.
As of October 1, 2003 there were 21 284 students studying at Vilnius University.
Structure
There are 12 faculties:
- Faculty of Chemistry
- Faculty of Economy
- Faculty of Philology
- Faculty of Philosophy
- Faculty of Physics
- Faculty of Natural Sciences
- Faculty of History
- Kaunas Humanitarian faculty
- Faculty of Communication
- Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science
- Faculty of Medicine
- Faculty of Law
The university also has several institutes:
- Institute of International Relations and Political Science
- Institute of Material Science and Applied Research
- Institute of Foreign Languages
- Institute of Ecology
- Institute of Immunology
- Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astronomy
- Institute of Oncology
- Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine
There are also several Study and Research Centers:
- A.J.Greimas Center of Semiotics
- Environmental Studies Center
- Center for Stateless Cultures
- Center of Orientalistics
- Center of Professional Improvement
- Religious Studies and Research Centre
- Sports Center
- Center for Gender Studies
- Vilnius Distance Education Study Center
- Center of Excellence in Cell Biology and Lasers
- International Center of Knowledge Economy and Knowledge Management
Projects
NATO SfP-972534 ( 1999-2002 years ) NATO Science for Peace programme project "Laser Spectrometer for Testing of Coatings of Crystals and Optical Components in Wide Spectral and Angle Range"