The Foundation of Vilnius University in 1579 In 1568, the
Lithuanian nobility asked the
Jesuits to create an institution of higher learning either in
Vilnius or
Kaunas. The following year
Walerian Protasewicz, the
bishop of Vilnius, purchased several buildings in the city center and established the Vilnian Academy (Almae Academia et Universitas Vilnensis Societatis Jesu). Initially, the academy had three divisions:
humanities,
philosophy, and
theology. The curriculum at the college and later at the academy was taught in
Latin. The first students were enrolled into the academy in 1570. A library at the college was established in the same year, and
Sigismund II Augustus donated 2500 books to the new college. The first
rector of the academy was
Piotr Skarga. He invited many scientists from various parts of Europe and expanded the library, with the sponsorship of many notable persons:
Sigismund II Augustus, Bishop
Walerian Protasewicz, and
Kazimierz Lew Sapieha. Lithuanians at the time comprised about one third of the students (in 1586 there were circa 700 students), others were
Germans,
Poles,
Swedes, and even
Hungarians. The academy's growth continued until the 17th century.
The Deluge era that followed led to a dramatic drop in the number of students who matriculated and in the quality of its programs. In the middle of the 18th century, education authorities tried to restore the academy. Thanks to the
rector of the academy,
Marcin Poczobutt-Odlanicki, the academy was granted the status of "Principal School" () in 1783. The commission, the secular authority governing the academy after the dissolution of the
Jesuit order, drew up a new statute. The school was named Academia et Universitas Vilnensis.
The Old Vilnius University Era Vilnius University was a prominent institution during the
Baroque era in Lithuania. The city's capital, Vilnius, became a key northern and eastern Baroque city. The Jesuits hired architect Joannes Christophorus Glaubicius from
Silesia to repair the university's buildings and the
Church of St. Johns. Glaubicius, who later became a leading 18th-century architect in the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, worked with various religious communities and developed a unique Vilnius Baroque style. In the late 18th century, Vilnius University underwent significant reorganization. This led to the foundation of the first
observatory in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (the fourth such professional facility in Europe), in 1753, by
Tomasz Żebrowski. The
Commission of National Education (), the world's first ministry of education, took control of the academy in 1773, and transformed it into a modern
University. The language of instruction (as everywhere in the commonwealth's higher education institutions) changed from
Latin to
Polish. On 3 May 1791, a new generation educated under this curriculum approved the
Constitution of Lithuania and Poland, the second written constitution after that of the USA. University professors improved the
Astronomical Observatory, established the
Botanical Garden, collected various plant and mineral samples, and organized the first expedition to search for natural resources in Lithuania. Even after the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was abolished in 1795, Vilnius University continued its vibrant intellectual life and promoted new ideas in the Natural Sciences. The university also produced renowned poets like
Adam Mickiewicz and
Juliusz Słowacki, who became leading figures in Polish culture.
Simonas Daukantas, a key figure in the Lithuanian movement, was the first to write Lithuania's history in the Lithuanian language., drawing, circa 1850 After the
Partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,
Vilnius was annexed by the
Russian Empire. However, the Commission of National Education retained control over the academy until 1803, when Tsar
Alexander I of Russia accepted the new statute and renamed it The Imperial University of Vilna (Императорскій Виленскій Университетъ). The institution was granted the rights to the administration of all education facilities in the
Vilna Educational District. Among the notable personae were the curator (governor)
Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and rector
Jan Śniadecki. courtyard The university used Polish as the instructional language, although
Russian was added to the curriculum. It became known for its studies of
Belarusian and
Lithuanian culture. Two of the faculties were turned into separate schools: the Medical and Surgical Academy (
Akademia Medyko-Chirurgiczna) and the Roman Catholic Academy (
Rzymsko-Katolicka Akademia Duchowna). But soon they were closed as well with Medical and Surgical Academy transformed into Medical faculty of
University of Kyiv (now
Bogomolets National Medical University), and latter one being transformed into
Saint Petersburg Roman Catholic Theological Academy (after the October Revolution of 1917 moved to Poland where it became
Catholic University of Lublin). The repression that followed the failed uprising included banning the
Polish and
Lithuanian languages; all education in those languages was halted. The first attempts to reestablish scientific institution in Vilnius were made after the
1905 revolution; on 22 October 1906 the
Society of Friends of Science in Wilno (TPN) was created by the Polish intelligentsia. After the outbreak of
World War I and the German occupation of the city TPN made an attempt to recreate a university with a creation of so-called Higher Scientific Courses. Unfortunately both TPN and the Courses were soon closed by German officials. Lithuanian scholars retreated to Kaunas from the occupied Vilnius. They organized the Higher Courses of Studies, which later evolved into the Lithuanian University in
Kaunas, established on 16 February 1922. A few years later, it was renamed
Vytautas Magnus University. hall in the
Vilnius University Library The university quickly recovered and gained international prestige, largely because of the presence of notable scientists such as
Władysław Tatarkiewicz,
Marian Zdziechowski, and
Henryk Niewodniczański. Among the students of the university at that time was future
Nobel Prize winner
Czesław Miłosz. The university grew quickly, thanks to government grants and private donations. Its library contained 600,000 volumes, including historic and cartographic items which are still in its possession. Anti-Semitism increased during the 1930s and a system of
ghetto benches, in which Jewish students were required to sit in separate areas, was instituted at the university. Violence erupted; the university was closed for two weeks during January 1937.
World War II Following the
invasion of Poland the university continued its operations. The city was soon
occupied by the Soviet Union. Most of the professors returned after the hostilities ended, and the faculties reopened on 1 October 1939. On 28 October,
Vilnius was transferred to
Lithuania which considered the previous eighteen years as an occupation by Poland of its capital. The university was closed on 15 December 1939 by the authorities of the Republic of Lithuania. All the faculty, staff, and its approximately 3,000 students dismissed. Students were ordered to leave the dormitories; 600 ended in a refugee camp. Polish professors who took part in the underground courses included Iwo Jaworski,
Kazimierz Petrusewicz and Bronisław Wróblewski. In 1944, many of Polish students took part in
Operation Ostra Brama. The majority of them were later arrested by the
NKVD and suffered repressions from their participation in the
Armia Krajowa resistance.
Soviet period (1945-1990) at the Centre of Lithuanian Studies The sovietisation of Vilnius University, which started in the summer of 1940, continued after World War II. Furthermore, the university community suffered some major upheavals during the Nazi occupation. On the order of the Nazi occupying authorities, all Jewish teachers and later all Polish and Jewish students were expelled from the university. Nearly all the Jewish members of the university community subsequently became victims of the Holocaust. In the summer of 1944, a few dozen former University lecturers retreated to the West, in fear of possible repression by the Soviet Regime. The arrests of lecturers started at the beginning of 1945 and continued until Stalin’s death. Even more professors were dismissed on political grounds. Educated Poles were transferred to
People's Republic of Poland after World War II under the guidance of
State Repatriation Office. As the result, many former students and professors of Stefan Batory joined universities in Poland. To keep in contact with each other, the professors decided to transfer whole faculties. After 1945, most of the mathematicians, humanists and biologists joined the
Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, while a number of the medical faculty formed the core of the newly founded
Medical University of Gdańsk. The
Toruń university is often considered to be the successor to the Polish traditions of Stefan Batory University. Many famous scientists ended up on the list of the victims of Stalinist terror, including Antanas Žvironas, Tadas Petkevičius, Levas Karsavinas and Vosylius Sezemanas, among others. During the post-Stalin period, when the classical Vilnius University had been converted into a Soviet university and in 1955 was awarded the name of the Vilnius Order of the Red Banner of Labour State University of Vincas Mickevičius-Kapsukas, there were no more mass repressions against the university community. However, separate cases of political persecution still occurred. One of the best-known cases was that instituted against the Department of Lithuanian Literature that lasted from 1958 to 1961, after which four teachers from the Department were forced to leave the university. The 1960s could be considered as a prominent threshold in the historical development of Vilnius University. During that period, the university was finally converted into a typical higher education institution, where priority was given to a specialised and simultaneously ideologised technocratic education rather than to the development of a full-fledged personality. Also in 2016, Vilnius University started the Recovering Memory project. The university recognises its responsibility to remember and evaluate the past, especially the tragic events that took place in the pre-war and post-war Lithuania, particularly at Vilnius University. The aim of the project is to commemorate and pay respect to the members of the Vilnius University community, both staff and students, who were expelled from the university, losing the ability to continue their academic careers or studies, because of the actions of the totalitarian regimes and their local collaborators. The symbolic Memory Diploma of Vilnius University has been established in commemoration of these people. Vilnius University is a member of The Arqus European University Alliance that brings together the Universities of Granada, Graz, Leipzig, Lyon 1, Maynooth, Minho, Padua, Vilnius and Wroclaw. == Structure ==