Vilnius University Faculty of Philology

Vilnius University, established in 1579, was the oldest university in the territory of the USSR and had a tremendous impact on the higher education of the entire region.

The publication aimed to counter the plans of the Soviet government to fake history as a way to push their own propaganda, and therefore focused on the story of Vilnius University and Lithuanian culture and achievements (which were kept under the radar as much as possible by the Soviets), as well as published documents which proved the facts of the forceful occupation.

I highly recommend taking time to explore the beautiful inner gardens of the faculty. See if you can find a garden named after Laurynas Stuoka-Gucevičius – he might come up later in the tour.

Once you’re done exploring and have reached the next location, feel free to click “continue.“

Next stop: Gedimino pr. 1, Vilnius 01103

During the Soviet Occupation, the university went through several changes, including its name. Can you believe that for some time, it was called the “Vincas Kapsukas State University of Vilnius and Orders of Red Flag of Labor and Friendship of Nations”?

Those who managed to break through the façade of the decorated title knew it was not all rainbows and sunshine. It shouldn’t be surprising to learn that that illegal underground press was adamant about the real truth – the truth of regression, oppression, and chaos.

Povilas Pečeliūnas – a prominent Lithuanian dissident, teacher, and poet – illegally printed the magazine “Alma Mater” on the poor state of Lithuania’s higher education institutions and the realities of Soviet rule. The first issue was released in 1979, on the 400th anniversary of the establishment of Vilnius University, the university he himself graduated from in 1952.