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The paper overviews the history of the privately owned Kaunas Women's Arts and Crafts School (1927-1940), established by the craftswoman Stasė Gudonytė-Biziokienė (1896-1943). Her work is analysed in the context of the interwar arts and crafts education. The school was continuing the tradition of women's crafts education that formed in the 2nd half of the 19th century. Being part of the interwar elite, Gudonytė-Bizokienė, was considered one of the founders of Lithuanian high fashion. During the period of 1935-1936, the school introduced three additional courses: hat making, women's fashion, and children's clothing design and tailoring. The paper uses archival material and memories of family members to present the biography of Gudonytė-Bizokienė. The paper also describes the school with its educational aims, structure, institutional reforms of 1935, and its curriculum. The paper overviews the remaining samples of the students' work that reflect the interwar ideals of a cosy home space, and feature a mix of art deco and modernised folk style. The significance of the school is demonstrated by tracing the careers of its graduates in the general context of arts and crafts education of the time. Apart from Kaunas Art School and Dotnuva Academy of Agriculture (1924-1945), Kaunas Women's Arts and Crafts School was the only higher education establishment with speciality in arts. The school's aims matched the Lithuanian demands. Gudonytė-Bizokienė's tailoring courses were on par with the educational programs of the notable tailors of the interwar Kaunas. The paper concludes that it was the artistic crafts that Gudonytė-Bizokienė saw as her main goal, while the fashion salons were only an appendage to her educational work. Crafts education was credited with a higher status in the Lithuanian schools of vocational education. However small, the group of the school's graduates that the research was able to identify demonstrates excellent professional skills and readiness to work in the sphere of crafts education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Oikos: Lithuanian Migration & Diaspora Studies is the property of Lithuanian Emigration Institute and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Darbai ir Dienos is the property of Vytautas Magnus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Socialiniai Tyrimai is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Soter: Journal of Religious Science / Religijos Mokslo Žurnalas is the property of Vytautas Magnus University, Faculty of Theology-Philosophy and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Coactivity / Santalka is the property of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Sociologija: Mintis ir Veiksmas is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper analyses the work of Kaunas bookbinding studios during the Interwar period. The research resulted in a large amount of archival data on the identities of the bookbinders from that time, as well as their professional qualifications, capacities, work management, level of mechanization, services on offer, materials used, product prices and requests from clients. The research aimed to reveal the differences between the industrial, custom high-street and custom artisan bookbinding. However it turned out that they were all closely intertwined. The analysis of the documented bookbinding equipment in various workshops has shown that the process of mechanization was rather slow, and that even the mass production was dominated by manual work. Back then, many books would leave the printing presses soft covered, and authors themselves often had to personally seek out the bookbinders for more durable book covers. Back then Kaunas had several types of bookbinding studios: industrial printing house bookbinders, private bookbinding businesses, and individual artisans. However all these types of workshops were able to provide the same range of services -- from mass productions to one-off books, both normal and artist editions. For instance, printing house bookbinders would not only take care of the mass production but also accept individual orders, even for one-off prints. Furthermore, all bookbinding studios were not only binding books (and documents) but also producing folders, photo albums and greeting cards, as well as padding the maps and charts with fabric and offering book 'restoration' services. Although Kaunas had no bookbinding school, many artistic bookbinding experts knowledgeable of the many intricacies of the craft. The craft of bookbinding often intertwined with leather decoration business -- the latter also used the same materials and offered products such as photo albums and notebooks. The Interwar leather processing and bookbinding industries were highly influenced by "Šatrija", a bookbinding company which had the Estonian expert Aksel Karing workin under their employ. He introduced some artistic and technical innovations of leather processing, thus significantly popularising this trade. The research concludes that the Lithuanian artistic bookbinding has been influenced by the Estonian school much earlier than it was thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Folk Culture is the property of Lithuanian National Culture Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Evolution of Science & Technology is the property of Vilnius Gediminas Technical University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article explores two programmatic texts of the Yiddish literary groups Vispe and Mir aleyn as documents of collective identity construction and seeks to answer the question: Which possible local and trans-national discourses meet up in such processes of self-creation and how may the articulated positions be further incorporated into global contexts? Both texts appeared in the miscellanies of the groups, published in Kaunas in 1921 (Vispe, Yiddish "Island") and in 1930 (Mir aleyn, Yiddish "We Alone" or "We Ourselves") under the titles Di vispe and Mir aleyn. Although neither is called a "manifesto," the paper demonstrates that their structures, subjects, rhetoric, and metaphors coincide with characteristics of avantgarde manifestoes. Di vispe and in part Mir aleyn are written in "we" form and suggest that collective intentions are expressed. The manifesto Di vispe has a structure of short paragraphs, some of them anaphoric; both manifestoes distinguish between "old" and "young," call for a fight against traditions, materialism, and authorities, and express the aim to change reality by means of art; finally, the manifesto Mir aleyn seeks to downgrade the literary works of the Vispe authors as graphomanic literature and launches a local Yiddish avant-gardistic polemic. Like many Yiddish and non-Yiddish Eastern European literary groups, including Lithuanian avant-garde groups that appeared in Kaunas approximately at the same time, Vispe and Mir aleyn combine in their manifestoes the principles of modern aesthetics and nationalist ideologies. Both manifestoes are engaged with so-called Jewish diaspora nationalism and the secular Yiddishism associated with Y. L. Peretz, Chaim Zhitlovsky, and many other Yiddish cultural and literary leaders. Some differences are to be mentioned. In the manifesto of Vispe the trans-national orientation is emphasized and an optimistic attitude towards Jewish diaspora culture is expressed, the actors shaping themselves mighty and able "to save the world." In the programmatic text of Mir aleyn the local-civic dimension becomes important as "the Lithuanian land" and "the Lithuanian state" emerge as an essential basis of identification. At the same time, partly recalling the imagery of Oswald Spengler's Decline of the West, the manifesto articulates a pessimistic vision regarding the future of Jewish culture in the Lithuanian republic and argues that the authors of Mir aleyn are about to disappear because of mass migration. That's why they should consolidate their final efforts and leave traces on the trans-national Yiddish literary landscape. With the concepts of "poet-Messiah," "artists' community," an utopian vision of an ideal "new time," pathos, metaphors like "new spirit," "storm," "sea," and others, the manifesto Di vispe relates to the discourse of German messianic expressionism. The manifesto Mir aleyn is by contrast of a more eclectic character and combines various ideas of Neoromanticism, New Objectivity, and Decadence. The paper argues that the manifestoes of both literary groups constitute openness to actual trans-national discourses of the Post World War I period and hence they also mark some significant similarities with tendencies in Kaunas's Lithuanian literature of the period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kaunas is located at the confluence of the two largest Lithuanian rivers -- the Nemunas and the Neris. The river floods used to be a cyclical phenomenon, occurring every spring. Although lasting only for a few days, they used to cause major damage to Kaunas and its citizens. This article focuses specifically on the floods of 1926, 1931 and 1936. The paper aims to analyse the lives of the people settled in the proximity of the rivers, the actions taken by the local government to protect the people from the floods, the methods used to control and prevent the ravaging effects of flooding, and the damage made for the people and the city. The paper is organized as follows. First, the moods and behaviour of the people before the flooding and during the critical days are analyzed. Second, the efforts of the government made to protect the citizenry are discussed. Third, the flood damage for people and city life is evaluated. Finally, the improvement of the preservation system from floods in the course of time is assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of scientific view towards bohemia in Lithuania has influenced the origin of various stereotypes and myths, associated with bohemian counterculture. Some of manifestations of artists' lives of temporary capital have already become the part of identity of Kaunas City, reflecting in stereotypic images of bohemian life, inherited from previous generations. The existence and abundance of these images determined the selection of this final paper's subject and the new attitude towards bohemian phenomenon - manifestations of bohemianism in artists' lives are viewed not only as cultural myth, inherited generation after generation, but also as intangible cultural heritage, typical to Kaunas City. The subject of article is the image of Kaunas interwar bohemia, captured in iconographic materials (art works, photographs, caricatures) and in memories of contemporaries. The aim of the paper is to show the attributes of Kaunas bohemia and to describe its peculiarities, while examining memories of contemporaries and art works. Sudden becoming a state capital, absence of cultural traditions of the city, still often evidencing provincialism, disappointment felt during interwar period, official restraints, communication with foreign bohemian communities determined the fact that the image of Kaunas bohemian was not a smooth one, some types of man image can be seen here: one idealizing the past, a dandy or a smart dresser and a mutineer. The issue of women bohemianism in the context of Lithuania is quite specific. Since society was fairly conservative, and its norms had especially strong influence on women, it was difficult for an artist woman to blend into bohemian male environment; therefore the attributes of an artist woman's image in the bohemian environment have been examined individually. However, it should be noted that the aforementioned division is conditional, and "impurity", mixing together of each excluded type should be considered as one of peculiarities of Kaunas interwar bohemia. Manifestations of bohemianism in the lives of Kaunas interwar artists showed up through singularities of their life style. The passion of bohemians to gather in cafés, to drink special "bohemian" drinks, and unordinary behaviour - all these are the attributes of the life style of Kaunas bohemian community, similar to the ones of bohemia of other European countries. However, in several cases some original traits were observed in the bohemianism of temporary capital. For example, fairly good financial status gave the bohemians the possibility to meet not only in smaller cafés of Kaunas, but also in luxurious restaurants of this city. The peculiarities of bohemian lifestyle of Kaunas interwar artists in private spaces were showing up during meetings in various locations - from estates to special artists' rooms in their working place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The paper looks at previously unanalysed phenomenon of hired professional singers performing at funerals in contemporary Kaunas. The paper explores the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21st century songs sung at the wake in Kaunas. Garnevičiūtė discusses the contemporary funerary singing tradition, analyses the lyrics, and compares them to similar songs from the past and the funerary songs recommended by the Catholic Church in the aim to understand the attitude in the face of death in the post-industrial society and to explain the reasons as to why the lyrics of funerary songs grow increasingly more sentimental. The analytical descriptive and comparative methods are used. Field research methods used are observation and interviews. Garnevičiūtė observes that contemporary funeral singing tradition in Kaunas features some aspects of the ancient necrocult. Music, that is, the singers are invited to signal the climax of the ceremony. Women's part in singing is less conspicuous than men's, with the exception of one song, there are no songs sung in the name of the deceased. The old Catholic tradition characteristic of mid Lithuania, namely, to sing at the funeral is perpetuated. There is a link between the lyrics of contemporary funerary songs and the quiet tone in which they are performed. The lyrics suggest that God is always near. There being no need to make any effort to make God hear the singing, the loud volume is abandoned in order to enjoy the closeness of God in quiet romantic ambience. Professional subdued singing with sentimental lyrics is destined to create the atmosphere of relief that is supposed to help the family and friends of the deceased cope of the pain of loss. The funerary singing tradition at the end of the 20th - beginning of the 21 centuries has been preserved, albeit largely modified. It demonstrates a synthesis of two trends - the traditional and the aesthetic. The latter is attributed more importance. This is a general requirement of the post-modern society that is equally followed at funerals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Paedagogica Vilnensia is the property of Vilnius University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Folk Culture is the property of Lithuanian National Culture Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Agricultural Sciences / Zemès ukio Mokslai is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article discusses the circumstances surrounding the establishment of Kaunas’ first metalworking factory. It delves into details such as the founding date (Autumn of 1862), the spelling of the founder’s name — nobleman Tomas Heidukevičius (also known as Tomasz Hejdukiewicz) — the initial activities of the factory, capital procurement, and the establishment of the company. Through presented documents and a cemetery inspection, this article refutes the misconception that the factory was originally named “Minerva” and that its first owner was nobleman Mikalojus Pranciškus Rekošas. The “reintroduction” of Heidukevičius into the historiography of the development of Lithuanian industry sheds light on the origin of artifacts found on his gravestone bearing his initials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the discourse of the right-wing and left-wing politicians and the academic community in 1918–1922 when trying to decide on the type of university needed by the state of Lithuania being built. The novelty of the article is reflected in two aspects. Firstly, the analysis is done at a micro-level, i.e., highlighting the key views and disagreements concerning the university prevailing in the society of the time from the individual perspective. Secondly, the discourse analysis has shown that the attitudes, actions, and initiatives in terms of leadership of politicians and intellectuals were important in decision-making related to university studies. It is that leadership of the academic community in the opening of the first private school of higher education in independent Lithuania, namely the Advanced Courses in 1919–1920, that influenced both the Government and members of the Constituent Assembly to find a consensus on founding the University of Lithuania in Kaunas in 1922. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the article, in addition to the already quite well-known episode of the issue of lifetime visas by the Japanese vice-consul in Lithuania Chiune Sugihara in Kaunas in the summer of 1940, Lithuania’s position on the issue of refugees is presented, as well as the efforts of Lithuanian diplomats in negotiating with the governments of Britain and the USSR about the possibilities of emigration of willing refugees – Polish Jews. The contribution of Jan Zwartendijk, Honorary Consul of the Netherlands in Lithuania, to the history of salvation is also remembered. The paths of emigration are discussed, showing their entire spectrum, and not just the usual ones with the Trans-Siberian route linked by Sugihara visas. The changing policy of the Japanese government on the issue of transit visas is reviewed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reviews the activities of the “Iron Wolf” of the Lithuanian National Guard in 1927–1930. The main focus is on the Kaunas group of this organization, reviewing the activities of opposition organizations, the tracking of public institution employees and the formation of nationalist organizations and a bureaucratic apparatus loyal to the nationalists (tautininkai). Based on the archival material, which has so far been little systematically used in the scientific literature, the efforts of the post-coup regime of A. Smetona and A. Voldemaras to establish themselves in power are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes the interwar period architecture of rural houses in Kaunas County, their types and exterior. The aim of the research is to analyze the rural dwelling-house architecture during the interwar period in Kaunas County by distinguishing the characteristic types of such rural houses and identifying their prevalence; also analyze the basic factors that influenced the architecture, plan structure, innovations and continuity of the building tradition of the rural living houses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pedagogy Studies / Pedagogika is the property of Vytautas Magnus University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The remains of the fortifications of Kaunas Fortress represent nonutilized urban and architectural potential at various levels of Kaunas cityscape. Single fortifications and the whole Kaunas Fortress as a system are analysed in the paper within the context of Kaunas cityscape. Analysis is made from the following points of view: urban frame, natural frame, mental city image and four types of cultural symbols of the cityscape-text. Principal suggestions for utilization of the system of former fortifications in Kaunas are presented. The work could serve as a methodological example for similar investigations in other fortresses within urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Folk Culture is the property of Lithuanian National Culture Center and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Information about several papers discussed at a symposium organized by the Lithuanian Community Region Board on science and creation is presented. Topics include the re-creation of a university in Kaunas, Lithuania and the future of Lithuania, and the ways to enrich study programmes and study process. The symposium featured several scientists and speakers including Audronė Juodaitytė and Professor R. Kašuba.

In this paper Juozas ŠORYS focuses on the activity of the Kaunas Ethnic Culture and Kaunas National Culture Centres. Many issues to do with contemporary ethnic culture were raised in the framework of the discussion-workshop Traditional and Modern Folklore in Contemporary Society held at the end of 2007. They were the failure on behalf of schools to instil the basics of the national culture, "gaps" in training folk group leaders, the growing appearance of pop-like, bad quality post-folklore entities into public space, impoverishing of young people's imagination and existential experiences by promoting the nihilistic attitude of Halloween and other festivals culturally and historically alien to Lithuanians. The latter deprive children in big cities of such vital experiences as darkness, silence and solitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncertainty analysis has been applied for some years at the Lithuanian Energy Institute, this far only to complex technical systems when estimating the uncertainty of thermal hydraulic calculation result. However, calculations of uncertainties could be applied also to natural systems. Modelling of hydrological and hydrodynamic processes usually faces the problem of not precisely known parameters and physical phenomena. Quantitative uncertainty analysis might be used to quantify the underlying uncertainties that might arise due to initial data, mathematical model or solution methods. The ordinary calibration procedure of the MIKE 21 HD computer code evaluates only the influence of mathematical equations' parameters (coefficients of bed resistance resistance and turbulence) on modelling results, but uncertainty due to initial data is not taken into account. This paper presents uncertainty and sensitivity analysis in the calibration process of hydrodynamic modelling of the Kaunas Reservoir using the SUSA computer code. The calibration of the model was done in the following order: estimation of initial data and the MIKE 21 HD code parameters that have an impact on calculation results: generation of input data sets and hydrodynamic calculation of the Kaunas Reservoir using the generated sets; sensitivity analysis of modelling results to determine most significant calibration parameters. It has been determined that the basic input parameters in the calibration process are the coefficients of bed resistance and turbulence and the water discharge of the Nemunas river as a boundary condition of the model. The influence of the other input parameters is less significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inevitability of combining the potential of the two greatest Lithuanian cities of Vilnius and Kaunas as the main „vertebra“ of the country's demographic and urban backbone was declared in the Master Plan of Lithuanian Territory Development adopted by the Seimas (Parliament) in the autumn of 2001. This qualitatively new approach on urban development is based on the teoretical and practical experience of modem world' s metropolitan areas. A survey of numerous statistic data, concerning existing situation in urban, life quality, economic and intellectual development of municipalities belonging to the territory of the above dipolis, is presented in the paper. Some of them are compared with the official data of the European Union. The author's emphasis is put on the inequalities of comprehensive development in various parts of this new combined urban unit. Inclusion of adjacent municipalities into the dipolis is one of the main preconditions of not only equalizing their situation but also improving in this way the development of the entire country, especially of its eastern part. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An idea of the dipolis of Vilnius and Kaunas formation is under discussion in the paper with the aim to establish both a metropolitan and recognized centre on an international scale. The first step is completed, i e a strategic plan of the dipolis is prepared following the initiative of both cities' municipalities. This plan is contradictory and controversial. The objective is declared for the first time in order to form a system of factors which could turn the existing polycentric network of the Lithuanian cities to another direction, i e to the concentration of social, economic and demographical potentials. It is not acceptable because it will expand the existing gap of Vilnius and Kaunas from the periphery and reduce the viability of the whole Lithuanian urban system. There is no basis for a bipolar urban structure formation. The potential development in the case of big cities and their non-formal regions do not overlap, the internal links are weak, and there are no indications of linear urban network formation. The progress of the whole Lithuanian urban system due to a low density of population as well as growing emigration should not be interdependent with an artificial development of both the metropolitan and regional physical structures. The idea of the dipolis of Vilnius and Kaunas formation should be assessed as a symbol of the inner cities' co-operation which is under particular shortage. Development of high-speed communication and information technologies as well as integration processes should serve for the above mentioned purpose by evaluating subjects of non-reducing competition of the cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Energetika is the property of Lithuanian Academy of Sciences Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)