On January 14, Foreign Minister G. Landsbergis announced the winner of the Global Lithuania Lifetime Achievement Award for 2020. For his dedication to cultural retention and life-long academic and community work in promoting Lithuanian culture, education and history, the award was granted posthumously to Dr. Vincas Bartusevičius (1939-2020). The award will be given to his wife, Ona Bartusevuičienė.
Vincas Bartusevičius was born in 1939 in Vilkaviškis, in Southwestern Lithuania. His parents fled to Germany with him in 1944 because of the Soviet occupation. He graduated from Vasario 16 (February 16) High School in 1959, later studied sociology, world history and psychology at the universities of Munich and Tübingen, earning a master’s degree in Sociology. In 1999 he was awarded a doctoral degree in humanitarian studies by Vilnius University, having defended his thesis “Lithuanian Refugees in Germany 1944-1951”.
During his lifetime he chaired many organizations including the German Lithuanian Community and was editor of several publications. He taught at the Vasario 16 (February 16th) High School and held various positions in its administration. He was the founder of the Lithuanian Institute of Culture in Huttenfeld (where the high school is still located). Dr. V. Bartusevičius had received the Knights Cross of the Order of the Grand Duke Gediminas, as well as other awards for for his contribution to Lithuanian culture. He died on April 21, 2020, in Germany.
News from the Lithuanian Foreign Ministry
