Founded in 1992 and dedicated to publishing articles on Lithuanian past, its historical development, and statehood of the Lithuanian nation, development of material and spiritual culture, its interaction with other nations, place in the world civilisation.
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Apie Vitos Malašinskienės disertaciją „LDK kanceliarijos struktūra ir veikla 1566–1623 m.“ ir jos gynimą / On Vita Malašinskienė’s Doctoral Thesis “Chancellery of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Structure and Practice in 1566–1623”, and Its Defense
Copyright (c) 2026 Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
An Alternative Perspective on the Historical Trajectories of Lithuania and Being Lithuanian
Richard Butterwick, Lithuania: A History, London: C. Hurst & Co., 2025.
Vital Byl, Witch Trials in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Sixteenth to Eighteenth Centuries: Enchanted Borderlands, Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2025.
Copies of Letters from Lithuanian Rulers, Beginning with Vytautas and Jogaila in an Excerpt from the 1575 Brest Castle Court Records, Reflecting a Dispute over the Newly Drawn Borders between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Poland Following the Union of Lublin
<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">XIV a. pabaigos–XVI a. vidurio Lietuvos didieji kunigaikščiai užėmė dominuojančią padėtį šalies administravimo sistemoje, todėl jų raštų, kaip istorijos šaltinių, reikšmė – milžiniška. Įsibėgėjusi Lietuvos Metrikos knygų leidyba artėja prie ribos, kai bus publikuotos visos Jogailaičių laikų Lietuvos valdovų kanceliarijos knygos, atversiančios naujas galimybes nuodugnesniems Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės (LDK) istorijos tyrimams. Bet kartu aiškėja būtinybė Metrikos medžiagą sistemiškai apdoroti kartu su vienalaikiais Lietuvos valdovų dokumentais, nepakliuvusiais į kanceliarijos knygas. Akivaizdu, kad išblaškytų po skirtingų šalių rankraščių saugyklas XVI a. Lietuvos valdovų vardu sudarytų dokumentų mas<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">ė yra milžiniška, o jai susisteminti prireiks dešimt­mečių. Bet naujų, iki šiol nepublikuotų ar nežinomų XV a. raštų pasitaiko vis rečiau, o jei ir pasitaiko, tai dažniausiai – vėlyvesnių nuorašų pavidalu. Šią publikaciją paskatino Lietuvos mokslų akademijos Vrublevskių bibliotekoje saugomas nuorašas iš 1575 m. Brastos pilies teismo knygos (toliau – <strong lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">rankraštis<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">), į kurį įrašyti keli XV–XVI a. Lietuvos didžiųjų kunigaikščių raštai. <span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Šios publikacijos tikslas – dvejopas: papildyti <em lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">Vitoldianoje<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">1<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> publikuotą didžiojo kunigaikščio Vytauto raštą dar vienu, kirilika surašytu, nuorašu<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">2<span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> ir pateikti su minėtu raštu susijusius Vytauto, Kazimiero, Aleksandro bei XV a. pabaigos Brastos seniūno vietininko raštus, transumuotus 1542 m. Zigmanto I rašte. Trijuose pastaruosiuose užsimenama ir apie Jogailos raštą. Publikacija papildyta dar trijų rankraštyje transumuotų visuomeninę reikšmę turinčių XVI <span lang="lt-LT" style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;">a. vidurio dokumentų aprašymais.
“Shall We Stash Sex on the Last Page?”: Youth Printed Mass Media as a Space of Informal Education of Sexuality in Lithuania (1988–2004)
Summary. Throughout the period following the restoration of Lithuanian independence, no coherent sexuality education programme was implemented in schools. In the absence of such institutional provision, the youth press became an important site of informal sexuality education. This article examines the period 1988–2004 and two prominent initiatives: the "Secrets of Love" column in Jaunimo gretos (1988–1992) and the "Red Page" column in Panelė (1994–2015). Drawing on these sources and archival documents, it reconstructs the institutional context and analyses the narratives and norms these publications constructed. The findings suggest that youth magazines provided more accessible information than schools, yet reproduced heteronormativity, moralised abortion, and advanced a narrow conception of sexual violence. Although public sexual discourse was expanding, norms relating to youth sexuality remained highly resistant to change.
Copyright (c) 2026 Kotryna Bėčiūtė https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Interpretations of Late 20th-Century Modernist Urbanism in Lithuania: The Cases of Lazdynai and Elektrėnai
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">The article examines how the evaluation of late-twentieth-century modernist urbanism formed during the Soviet period influenced the interpretation of this legacy after 1990. It raises the question of value transferability: which elements of Soviet-period narratives could be detached from ideological representation and actualised in the language of heritage protection, memory, and local identity in independent Lithuania. The Lazdynai (a neighbourhood in Vilnius City) narrative was based on professionally recognisable and universal arguments of urban composition, and could therefore be reinterpreted after 1990. Whereas, the meaning of Elektrėnai was more closely tied to the propagandistic narrative of industrialisation and the ‘city of light’; after this narrative collapsed, the city began to seek new anchors of identity. The article concludes that value transferability depends on the level at which a legacy can be detached from its original ideological representation: in the case of Lazdynai, it operates through the levels of urban composition, heritage recognition, local identity, and memory, whereas, in the case of Elektrėnai, value has to be newly recognised at a sociocultural level, incorporating layers of local memory.
Copyright (c) 2026 Justina Gasiūnienė https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Control of Venereal Diseases and the Search for the Infected in Soviet Lithuania, 1953–1985
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">The article analyzes the treatment of sexually transmitted infections in Soviet Lithuania during the period of 1953–1985. Upon examining primarily the materials of the Republican Dispensary of Skin and Venereal Diseases, the study aims to determine how the mechanisms of venereal disease control operated, and which social groups most frequently fell under the radar of these mechanisms. It also investigates how the legal framework of the time served these control mechanisms. The research demonstrates that the Soviet legal system viewed the treatment of venereal diseases as an object of criminal law. First, a legal framework was established to punish the infected person, and only then to treat them. In addition to medical professionals, the militia and the general public were integrated into the venereal disease control mechanisms. Great emphasis was placed on identifying, tracing, and treating the patient’s potential sources of infection. Compulsory screening and treatment mechanisms created conditions for the persecution, stigmatization, and marginalization of individuals who did not conform to the image of the ‘upright citizen’.
Copyright (c) 2026 Aigustė Starkutė https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Kaunas Garrison Soldiers’ Uprising on 21–23 February 1920: Historiographical Versions and the Reconstruction of Events
<strong style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">This article analyzes the historiographical versions of the Kaunas Garrison soldiers’ uprising, identifies its causes and examines in detail the course of the uprising as well as the actions of the rebels and the command of the Armed Forces. The versions of the uprising that have so far been presented in historiography do not differ significantly – while, in interwar Lithuania, the version emphasizing that the uprising was instigated by Communists and foreigners was more prominent, Soviet and Lithuanian émigré historiography and memoirs emphasized the Communist nature of the uprising, while British and American officers highlighted problems of discipline, propaganda, and poor provisioning of soldiers, which are noted in both versions.<br style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">A reconstruction of the events of the uprising supports the version that the uprising was an action organized by the Bolsheviks, the aim of which was to seize control of military units and overthrow the Lithuanian Government, rather than merely demands to grant the right to vote in the Constituent Assembly elections and improve the soldiers’ material conditions. The organized agitation activities of the rebels on February 21, 1920, encompassed all units of Kaunas Garrison; however, thanks to the active efforts of the army leadership and the officers of the First Infantry Regiment, Eighth Infantry Regiment, and Sixth Infantry Regiment, they managed to contain the soldiers’ insubordination in most of Kaunas Garrison’s military units and disperse the rallies. The passivity of the officers created conditions for the spread of Bolshevik agitation and soldier insubordination in the Artillery Regiment and Second Reserve Battalion, which led to an uprising staged by soldiers in those units on February 22, 1920; however, the rebels were disarmed on February 23.
Copyright (c) 2026 Kęstutis Kilinskas https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
The Gendarmerie of Vilnius Governorate in the Counter-Intelligence Activities in 1908–1914
<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; display: inline !important; float: none;">During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the increasingly tense geopolitical landscape led to a rise in cross-border espionage. In response, there was a growing need for robust counter-intelligence capabilities to thwart these activities effectively. The Russian Empire, as a bordering state with its rivals, the German and Austro-Hungarian Empires, lacked such a capability. Facing active competitor activities, it had to develop counter-intelligence capabilities. One of the most important fields of struggle was the peripheral territories, which included the governorates of Vilnius, Kaunas, and Suwałki. The article provides a detailed examination of the creation of the counter-intelligence apparatus and the activities of the gendarmerie of Vilnius Governorate in preventing the activities of spies.
Copyright (c) 2026 Lukas Pocius https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0