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The Lithuanian nobility was historically a legally privileged class in the Kingdom of Lithuania and Grand Duchy of Lithuania consisting of Lithuanians, from the historical regions of Lithuania Proper and Samogitia, and, following Lithuania's eastern expansion, many Ruthenian noble families (boyars). Families were primarily granted privileges for their military service to the Grand Duchy. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth had one of the largest percentages of nobility in Europe, close to 10% of the population, in some regions, like Samogitia, it was closer to 12%. However, the high nobility was extremely limited in number, consisting of the magnates and later, within the Russian Empire, of princes.
This article is about the administrative divisions of Lithuania.
Simonas Daukantas was a Lithuanian/Samogitian historian, writer, and ethnographer. One of the pioneers of the Lithuanian National Revival, he is credited as the author of the first book on the history of Lithuania written in the Lithuanian language. Only a few of his works were published during his lifetime and he died in obscurity. However, his works were rediscovered during the later stages of the National Revival. His views reflected the three major trends of the 19th century: romanticism, nationalism, and liberalism.
The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania was the first parliament of the independent state of Lithuania to be elected in a direct, democratic, general, secret election. The Assembly assumed its duties on 15 May 1920 and was disbanded on October 1922.
Zervynos is an ethnographic village in the Varėna district, Lithuania. It is situated within the territory of the Dzūkija National Park near the Ūla River. The Saint Petersburg–Warsaw Railway runs through this village. Zervynos has 48 homesteads; 8 homesteads and 32 separate buildings are officially declared ethnographic monuments. The village was among the sites short-listed for nomination for the UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though the village is isolated by the Dainava Forest, it is a busy place during summer as tourists kayaking in the Ūla River pass through the settlement.
The Casimir's Code was a legal code adopted in 1468 by Grand Duke of Lithuania and King of Poland Casimir IV Jagiellon with an approval of the Lithuanian Council of Lords. It was the first attempt to codify the laws of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The code prescribed punishment for property crimes and limited court procedures. Much of the legal system was left uncodified and was governed by customs.
Antoni Tyzenhaus was a noble from the Tyzenhaus family, son of Benedykt Tyzenhaus. As a personal friend of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, Tyzenhaus became Treasurer of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and administrator of royal estates. He began to implement various agricultural reforms and pioneered industrialization in an effort to increase productivity and economic power of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. At first, he was successful and managed to gain considerable political influence; he was considered to be the second man after the King. However, the efforts were based on the old system of serfdom and failed. Eventually, amidst increasing political rivalry with other nobles and mounting debts, Tyzenhaus was accused of fraud and removed from public offices in 1780.
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The Great Seimas of Vilnius was a major assembly held on December 4 and 5, 1905 in Vilnius, Lithuania, then part of the Russian Empire, largely inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1905. It was the first modern national congress in Lithuania and dealt primarily not with the social issues that sparked the revolution, but with national concerns. Over 2,000 participants took part in the Seimas. The assembly made the decision to demand wide political autonomy within the Russian Empire and achieve this by peaceful means. It is considered an important step towards the Act of Independence of Lithuania, adopted on February 16, 1918 by the Council of Lithuania, as the Seimas laid the groundwork for the establishment of an independent Lithuanian state.
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Veldamas was a form of landownership in the early stages of Lithuanian serfdom. The term describes a peasant family with its land and other belongings granted by the Grand Duke of Lithuania to his loyal followers, usually as a reward for military service. The peasant retained ownership of his property, including land, but owed taxes and levies imposed by the noble. Veldamas was a middle stage between laukininkas and a serf. The term veldamas is derived from Lithuanian word veldėti, valda and means "to rule something". East Slavic texts loaned the word as велдомы. The term gradually disappeared after the Volok Reform in 1557, but it was still used in Postilė by Mikalojus Daukša (1599) to denote a subordinate.
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The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) was a short-lived Soviet puppet state declared on 16 December 1918 by a provisional revolutionary government led by Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas. It ceased to exist on 27 February 1919, when it was merged with the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia to form the Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Litbel). While efforts were made to represent the LSSR as a product of a socialist revolution supported by local residents, it was largely a Moscow-orchestrated entity created to justify the Lithuanian–Soviet War. As a Soviet historian described it as: "The fact that the Government of Soviet Russia recognized a young Soviet Lithuanian Republic unmasked the lie of the USA and British imperialists that Soviet Russia allegedly sought rapacious aims with regard to the Baltic countries." Lithuanians generally did not support Soviet causes and rallied for their own national state, declared independent on 16 February 1918 by the Council of Lithuania.
Felicija Bortkevičienėnée Povickaitė was a Lithuanian politician and long-term publisher of Lietuvos ūkininkas and Lietuvos žinios. She became active in social life after she moved to Vilnius in 1900 and became known as an energetic and prolific organizer, manager, and treasurer of numerous political, cultural, and charitable organizations. She joined and was one of the leaders of various political parties, including Lithuanian Democratic Party, Peasant Union, and Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. She was a delegate to the Great Seimas of Vilnius (1905) and was elected to the Constituent Assembly of Lithuania (1920) and was considered for the position of Minister of Provision and Public Work (1918) and President of Lithuania (1926). Bortkevičienė organized and ran several charitable organizations, including those supporting gifted students, political prisoners of the Tsarist regime, and deported Prussian Lithuanians. She was also a member of women's movement in Lithuania, being an active member of the Lithuanian Women's Association and the chair of the Lithuanian Women's Union. For her various activities Bortkevičienė was arrested and imprisoned numerous times by different regimes, including Tsarist Russia, independent Lithuania, and Soviet Lithuania.
Lietuvos ūkininkas was a weekly Lithuanian-language newspaper published between 1905 and 1940. It was published by and reflected the political views of the Lithuanian Democratic Party, Peasant Union, and Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union. Its printing and daily operations were managed by its long-time publisher Felicija Bortkevičienė. It was a liberal publication geared towards the wider audience of less educated farmers and peasants. In 1933, its circulation was 15,000 copies. When Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940, the newspaper was nationalized and replaced by Valstiečių laikraštis.
Vilnius Land Bank was the first bank established in Vilnius, present-day Lithuania. It was a private joint-stock mortgage bank serving the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. Its mission was to provide loans collateralized by real estate to manor owners (agriculture) and city residents (industry). As it could not accept deposits, the bank issued mortgage bonds to raise funds for the loans. The bank was established in 1872 after a banking reform. It was one of eleven land banks operating in the Empire, and grew to be one of the largest. Despite several economic crises, particularly the one caused by the Russian Revolution of 1905, the outstanding loans grew from 5 million rubles in 1874 to 148.8 million in 1912. Both Lithuanians and Russians complained that the bank was controlled by and served the Polish interests. During World War I, the bank was evacuated to Petrograd. After the war, in 1920, it returned to Vilnius, which became part of the Second Polish Republic. It continued to operate at diminished volumes until the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939.
America in the Bathhouse is a three-act comedy by Keturakis. The play was first published in 1895. It became the first Lithuanian-language play performed in public in present-day Lithuania when a group of Lithuanian activists staged it on 20 August 1899 in Palanga. The play depicts an episode from the everyday life of the Lithuanian village – a resourceful man swindles money from a naive woman and escapes to the United States. Due to its relevant plot, small cast, and simple decorations, the play was very popular with the Lithuanian amateur theater. It became one of the most popular and successful Lithuanian comedies of all time and continues to be performed by various troupes.
References
- 1 2 Zigmas, Zinkevičius (1995). "Lietuvos Didžiosios Kunigaikštystės kanceliarinės slavų kalbos termino nusakymo problema". In Nadija, Neporožnia (ed.). Lietuva - Ukraina: istorija, politologija, kultūrologija (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Amžius. pp. 12–19. ISBN 5-87534-123-8.
- 1 2 3 Tarvydienė, Marytė Elena (2007). Žemėtvarkos pagrindai (in Lithuanian). Lithuanian University of Agriculture. pp. 17, 23–24. ISBN 978-9955-896-11-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-22.
- ↑ "Kaimynai". Tarybų Lietuvos enciklopedija (in Lithuanian). II. Vilnius: Vyriausioji enciklopedijų redakcija. 1985–1988. pp. 172–173. OCLC 20017802.
- ↑ Poviliūnas, Antanas (2007). "Žemės reformos ir ūkininkijos raidos ekonominės peripetijos". Žemės ūkio mokslai (in Lithuanian). 1 (14): 49. ISSN 1392-0200.
- ↑ Skardžius, Pranas (March 1973). "Donum Balticum". Aidai (in Lithuanian). 3. ISSN 0002-208X.