New exhibition ‘Under the flag of Vytis: Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania of 1920–1927 in diplomatic service‘

The exhibition titled ‘Under the flag of Vytis: Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania of 1920–1927 in diplomatic service’ is dedicated to the centenary anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of the League of Nations and 30th anniversary of Lithuania’s membership of the United Nations.

The exhibition, which has been arranged by the Unit for Historical Memory of Parliamentarianism of the Office of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, consist of two parts. The first part gives a general overview of parliamentary diplomacy presenting the most relevant diplomatic topics that were discussed on numerous occasions by the Seimas between 1920 and 1927. They include relations with the neighbouring countries; international recognition and national borders; complex search for solutions to problems of Vilnius and Klaipėda regions; and the peace treaty of 12 July 1920 between the Republic of Lithuania and the Soviet Russia, whereby Russia recognised the independence of Lithuania and denounced its claims to Lithuania’s territory.

Members of the delegation of Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian Parliaments on a reciprocal visit to London

From left to right: Zigfrīds Anna Meierovics, Member of the Saeima of the Republic of Latvia, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Johan Laidonen, Member of the Riigikogu of the Republic of Estonia, Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs; Dr Leonas Bistras, Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Minister of Education; Valdemaras Vytautas Čarneckis, Chargé d’Affaires of the Republic of Lithuania in London, former Member of the Seimas; Karolis Račkauskas-Vairas, staff member at the legation of Lithuania, London, United Kingdom. 26 June 1924. | Photo by Central Press. Lithuanian Central State Archives. P-42371

The second part of the exhibition is devoted to Members of the Seimas of 1920–1927 who had either been part of the diplomatic service of Lithuania or worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Lithuanian Telegram Agency ELTA established under the Ministry. Some representatives of the people had already had experience of diplomatic work prior to their election to the Seimas, while others took up diplomatic career after the completion of their parliamentary term. Few people might know that Juozapas Eretas (Joseph Ehret), founder of ELTA, Swiss-born researcher and good friend of Lithuania, was among Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

‘The exhibition aims at raising the awareness of the multi-dimensional history of the Parliament of Lithuania, comprising a range of diverse stories. Each exhibition display panel gives an account of an individual micro-story revealing still deeper layers of history. At its very heart is the history of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, which is told through the prism of diplomatic history. Moreover, each display panel is decorated with Vytis (The Knight), the symbol of the State of Lithuania. It was this version of Vytis that was used to embellish the cover of the certificate issued to the then Members of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania’, says Dr Vilma Akmenytė-Ruzgienė, organiser of the exhibition.

Participants of the first conference of Lithuanian, Latvian, and Estonian journalists at the Lithuanian Intellectuals Club (Metropolis) in Kaunas

The photograph features the following Lithuanian parliamentarians: 9th – Dr. Juozapas Eretas, Head of the Lithuanian Telegram Agency ELTA, future Member of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania; 16th – Kazys Grinius, Prime Minister of the Republic of Lithuania, Member of the Constituent Seimas; 28th – Eliziejus Draugelis, Member of the Constituent Seimas, Editor of the daily newspaper Laisvė; 31st – Juozas Pronskus, Member of the Constituent Seimas, representative of the magazine Trimitas. Kaunas, 30 May – 3 June 1921. | Photo byunknown photographer. Lithuanian Central State Archives. P-06886

The photographs featured in the exhibition come from Lithuanian Central State Archives; Library of Kaunas University of Technology; Vytautas the Great War Museum, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis National Museum of Art; History Museum of Lithuania Minor; National Museum of Lithuania; Manuscripts Unit of Vilnius University Library; Gabrielė Petkevičaitė-Bitė Public Library in Panevėžys County; and the Reading Room of the Seimas.

The exhibition is on display until 30 September 2021.