LT National Commemorations in 2022

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Five major anniversaries will be celebrated in Lithuania this year, with one in particular relating to the American diaspora.

The 100th anniversary of the birth of Monsignor Kazimieras Vasiliauskas, political prisoner and first pastor of the restored Vilnius Basilica, will be celebrated with many events reflecting his importance and influence in the nation’s development, organized by institutions such as the Lithuanian Bishops’ Conference, the Vilnius Archdiocese, the Lithuanian Academy of Science, and the Lithuanian Genocide and Resistance Centre.

2022 has also been declared the year of Pranciškus Skorina, as it is the 500th anniversary of his book, the first published in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, The Little Book of Travels (Mažoji kelionių knygelė) and its publishing house in Vilnius, the first established in Eastern Europe. Pranciškus Skorina was a Ruthenian humanist, physician, and translator. (Ruthenians are ancestors of East Slavic origin who were orthodox believers living outside of Russia, mainly in Lithuania, Ukraine, Serbia and Greece.) A major commemoration dedicated to his work will be held at the Vilnius Municipal Centre, with several conferences throughout the country on related topics as well as the presentation of several academic works.

2022 is also the the 100th anniversary of the birth of filmmaker Jonas Mekas, who will be commemorated at a symposium, an exhibition called “Jonas Mekas and the New York Avant-garde”, showings of his film “Mysteries” and the documentary “Three Friends”, and the launch of the book “Jonas Mekas. The Camera was Always Running”. Exhibitions about his work and life and a program of his films will also be held in the diaspora, in cities such as Goteborg, Tampere, Krakow, Venice, Paris, Tel Aviv, Turin, Rome, and Kiev.

This also a year of commemoration for the Sudovia region, marking 600 years from the date it joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Called Sūduva or Suvalkija or Užnemunė in Lithuanian, it is the smallest of the five cultural regions of Lithuania, and it will be celebrated with various conferences and virtual events.

And finally, August 1, 2022 will be the 100th anniversary of the Lithuanian Constitution, the date the founding Seimas (Parliament) passed the first modern, democratic constitution of the nation. The commemoration will include a variety of cultural and educational conferences, events and exhibitions, as well as the launch of a reader-friendly publication about the Constitution and a commemorative gold coin. Alkas.lt