Press release, 10 December 2013
On 10 December 2013, a solemn meeting to mark the 300th birth anniversary of Kristijonas Donelaitis was hosted at the Hall of the Act of 11 March of the Seimas. The meeting was held in preparation for the year 2014, declared the Year of Donelaitis: the most renowned writer in Lithuanian literature.
In his introductory address, Vydas Gedvilas, First Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, compared the role of The Seasons by Donelaitis in Lithuanian literature to that of roots providing the trunk and branches of a tree with life-sustaining materials. “For over 200 years since Prof Liudvikas Rėza from the Kaliningrad University prepared The Seasons for publication in 1818, every new generation has continued to reflect on the meaning and significance of the poem,” Mr Gedvilas said.
According to Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, the works of Donelaitis encourage people to cherish the Lithuanian language and customs, help reinforcing self-respect, and prompt reflections on questions of roots, identity, and respect to ancestors. “The contribution of Donelaitis to Lithuanian culture and development of the national consciousness is so far underestimated. I therefore believe that we should continue promoting his oeuvre in Lithuania and worldwide, especially by engaging the young generation, not only in the coming Year of Donelaitis, but also beyond 2014. Scholars organise annual conferences to commemorate the Lithuanian linguist Jonas Jablonskis. We could think of a similar tradition to mark the life of Kristijonas Donelaitis, too,” the Speaker of the Seimas said. She hoped that the coming year, devoted to Kristijonas Donelaitis, would encourage more insightful debate on his valuable oeuvre, its impact on the Lithuanian identity, and lessons to be learnt.
Irena Degutienė, Deputy Speaker of the Seimas, Chair of the Seimas Commission for the Traditions and Heritage of Lithuanian Studies, compared the existing knowledge about the heritage of Donelaitis worldwide to the knowledge about the history of Lithuania and said the two phenomena were closely related. “It is only this year that his masterpiece, The Seasons, was first translated into Spanish and saw print. Ranking among a wide range of tasks under the Donelatis 300th anniversary programme, this translation is of particular importance to the promotion of our heritage,” Mrs Degutienė said. However, she thinks there are still challenges ahead. “It is most difficult for Donelaitis to, metaphorically speaking, cross the Nemunas River. We still need to strive for smoother cooperation with institutions of the Russian Federation. Lithuania should contribute to installing modern equipment in Tolminkiemis museum and putting in order the environment that bears witness to the life of the world-class writer. UNESCO could be engaged to ensure better coordination of the interests of the Russian Federation and Lithuania, streamlined to establishing and maintaining the museum of Donelaitis,” the Deputy Speaker said.
Šarūnas Birutis, Minister of Culture, commended the role of Donelaitis both as a classical writer who laid the foundation for secular Lithuanian literature and as a bridge between cultures of Lithuania Major and Lithuania Minor, on the one hand, and Lithuania and the world, on the other. “A range of experts in many countries are united today by the commemoration of life and oeuvre of the writer. This task makes sense for them because of its uniqueness, the benefits it offers for research and culture, and the message it sends to future generations,” he said.
Svetlana Kondratyeva, Minister of Culture of the Kaliningrad Region, assured the audience that the museum in Tolminkiemis would soon look the way the residence looked 300 years ago. “We will open new exhibitions and we expect to attract even more visitors. This will be a popular place for Lithuanian tourists and schoolchildren. Donelaitis anniversary celebration may well offer a good example of active and fruitful cooperation,” the speaker said. According to her, a lot has already been achieved. The main roads leading to the museum have been repaired, with guiding road signs installed. “We believe that our joint efforts will help to preserve the memorial site that tells the story of life and work of Donelaitis. Hopefully, we will manage to carry out all our plans in the most plausible way to commemorate the great writer,” she said.
Prof Domas Kaunas from the Institute of Book Science and Documentation of the Faculty of Communication of Vilnius University commended the decision made at the UNESCO General Conference in Paris in November 2013 to commemorate the 300th birth anniversary of Donelaitis alongside the anniversaries of world famous writers. He said this opened up opportunities to disseminate humanistic values in events both home and abroad, bring people together, and promote Lithuanian literature, science, art, and culture. This will help the older generation of readers rediscover Donelaitis, while the younger generation will independently discover the author of The Seasons through both traditional and digital means. According to Prof Kaunas, this is not easy as the readers and the writer are separated by centuries.
While referring to the need to look for more answers about the life and work of Donelaitis, the professor pointed out that the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences and the Vilnius University were to organise an international conference on Donelaitis in September 2014, with experts from eight countries willing to take part. “We could perhaps gain more information about the author of The Seasons if we concentrated on his research and personal library, if we read the titles of the magazines he read, the surnames of his favourite authors, look into the letters he sent, and find out about their addressees. There is not enough information. But we have not looked for much, either. Experts of old Prussian history are lacking. There is a lack of commitment and funds for long-term research into old Prussian archives abroad. Let us make haste to do our homework. There are concerns about the old publications of writings by Donelaitis. The majority of Donelaitis-related stock in Lithuanian libraries is in poor condition. They urgently need exceptional protection. Some of the books by Donelaitis are unique because they bear records and comments of their former owners, including poet and priest Antanas Baranauskas, Prelate Adomas Jakštas - Dambrauskas, President of Lithuania Kazys Grinius, and poet Kudirka. These books had a significant impact on other participants of the Lithuanian national and political revival movement. Incidentally, The Seasons was one of the reasons for Simonas Daukantas to start writing the history of Lithuania in Lithuanian,” Prof Kaunas said.
At the end of the solemn meeting, in conformity with the decision of the Board of the Seimas, Loreta Graužinienė, Speaker of the Seimas, granted awards for the important contribution to the commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Donelaitis to the following people: Česlovas Juršėnas, first Chair of the Seimas Commission for the Traditions and Heritage of Lithuanian Studies, for having initiated the Donelaitis 300th anniversary programme; Prof. Domas Kaunas for drafting the programme; Kazys Napoleonas Kitkauskas for preparing for publication the book Memorial to Donelaitis in Tolminkiemis and for contribution to the establishment Memorial Museum of Kristijonas Donelaitis; as well as Boris Bartfeld, President of the Writers’ Union of the Kaliningrad Region; Lyudmila Silova, Director of the Memorial Museum of Kristijonas Donelaitis in the Kaliningrad Region; and Olga Dubovaya, President of the Union of Donelaitis’ Countrymen in the Kaliningrad Region, for their personal contribution to commemorating Donelaitis and fostering the Lithuanian language, developing Lithuanian culture and mobilizing the Lithuanian community in the Kaliningrad Region.
Rimas Rudaitis, Public Relations Unit, tel. +370 5 239 6132, e-mail: [email protected]
