University Of Wilno

Vilnius University (also known as Vilnius State University, Lithuanian ''Vilniaus Universitetas'', Polish ''Uniwersytet Wileński'', formerly '' Stefan Batory University'', Belarusian ''Вiленскi Унiверсытэт'') is the oldest university In Eastern Europe and the biggest University In Lithuania .

History

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

In 1568 the local , Philosophical and Theological . The first students joined the Academy in 1570. Also the library that will become the library of Vilnius University is established the same year, with books donated mostly by the founder.

On , bishop Walerian Protasewicz and marshal of the crown Kazimierz Lew Sapieha .

In 1575 duke Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł and Elżbieta Ogińska sponsored a printing house for the academy, one of the first in the region. The printing house issued books in Latin and Polish , and in 1595 the first book in Lithuanian was released - ''Catechismusa Prasty Szadei'' (Simple Words of Catechism) by Martynas Mažvydas .

The period of the Academy's development lasted until the 17th century. The following period of The Deluge led to a dramatic drop both in the number of students and the quality of studies. In the middle 18th century the educational authorities tried to restore the Academy. This led to foundation of the first Observatory in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (and fourth professional such facility in Europe) founded in 1753 by Tomasz Żebrowski . The Commission Of National Education took over the Academy in 1773 and reformed it into a modern University . Thanks to the Rector of the Academy, Marcin Poczobutt-Odlanicki , the Academy was granted the status of the ''Principal School'' (''Szkoła Główna'') in 1783. The Commission Of National Education , the secular authority governing the academy after the dissolution of the Jesuit order, prepared a new statute.

Partitions

After the Partitions Of Poland-Lithuania Vilnius (Wilno) was annexed by Russia . However, the Commission retained control over the Academy until 1803, when tsar Alexander I Of Russia accepted the new statute and renamed the Academy to ''Imperial University of Vilna''. The institution was granted the right of administration of all educational facilities in the former Grand Duchy Of Lithuania . Among the notable personae were the ''curator'' (governor) Adam Jerzy Czartoryski , rector Jan Śniadecki

The university flourished. By 1823 it was one of the biggest in Europe (with number of students exceeding that of the and Lithuanian Language s and all education in those languages was halted. Finally all the property of the University was confiscated and sent to Russia (mostly to St. Petersburg ).

After 1919

After Vilnius region was annexed by Poland, on August 20 , 1919 by the act of Józef Piłsudski the vilnian academy was restored under the new name of '' Stefan Batory University'' (''Uniwersytet Stefana Batorego''). The University quickly recovered and gained international prestige, mostly thanks to notable scientists like 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 quickly grew, mostly due to government donations and private sponsors.

In 1938 the University had:

7 Institutes

123 professors

104 different scientifical units (including two hospitals)

3110 students

Among the students were many foreigners, including 212 Russians , 94 Belarusians , 85 Lithuanians , 28 Ukrainians and 13 Germans .

World War II

Following the outbreak of the of Kaunas and new Lithuanian language programs and faculties were established in Vilnius University (mostly moved from Vytautas Magnus University). Following the annexation of Lithuania by the Soviet Union more lectures in Polish were introduced, however most of the professors were soon arrested and sent to prisons and Gulag s in Russia and Kazakhstan .

The city was annexed by Germany in 1941 and all institutions of higher education for non-Germans were closed. However, the remaining professors organized a System Of Secret Education with lectures and exams held in private flats. The diplomas of the underground universities were accepted by many Polish universities after the War . In 1944 many of the students took part in the Operation Ostra Brama . The majority of them were later arrested by the NKVD and sent to the Soviet Union . Following the final annexation of the city into the Lithuanian SSR most of the professors and students that survived the war were expelled. Many of them joined various universities in Poland. In order not to lose 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 newly-founded Medical University Of Gdańsk .

After 1945

After the war the University was renamed to '' Vincas Kapsukas University for Lithuanian SSR''. Though restrained by the Soviet system, Vilnius University grew and gained significance. Vilnius University started to free itself from the Soviet ideology in 1988 thanks to the Glasnost policy. On March 11 , 1990 Lithuania declared independence and the University regained autonomy. Since 1991, the University of Vilnius has been a Signatory to the Magna Charta of the European Universities. The University is a member of the European University Association (EUA) and the Conference of Baltic University Rectors.

Notable professors and alumni

::''Sorted in alphabetical order''

Michał Bobrowski

Ludwik Chmaj , historian and philosopher

Józef Michał Chomiński , musicologist

Adam Jerzy Czartoryski

Tadeusz Czeżowski , logician

Simonas Daukantas , philologist

Ignacy Domeyko , later founder of the Santiago De Chile University

Henryk Elzenberg , historian and philosopher

Józef Gołuchowski , philosopher

Gottfried Erns Groddeck , medician

Johann Peter Frank , medician

Josef Frank , medician

Tomasz Hussarzewski , historian

Stanisław Bonifacy Jundziłł , biologist

Daniel Klein , reformer of the Lithuanian Language grammar

Ludwik Kolankowski , historian

Józef Ignacy Kraszewski , writer

Zygimantas Liauksminas , philosopher

Joachim Lelewel , historian and politician

Henryk Łowmiański , historian

Adam Mickiewicz , poet

Czesław Miłosz

Kazimierz Moszyński , ethnologue

Ignacy Żegota Onacewicz , Polish scientist and Belarus ian national revival pioneer

Jan Szczepan Otrębski , philologist, professor of Lithuanian and German languages

Maciej Kazimierz Sarbiewski , famous Latin Language poet

Jozef-Julian Sekowski , journalist

Piotr Skarga

Kazimierz Siemienowicz , artillery engineer, constructor and pioneer of rocketry

Juliusz Słowacki , poet

Stefan Srebrny , philologist

Jan Śniadecki , astronomer, mathematician, physicist

Jędrzej Śniadecki , chemician and medician

Martin Śmiglecki , logician

Witold Taszycki , language scientist

Józef Trypućko , philologist

Albertas Vijukas-Kojelavicius , historian, author of the first History Of Lithuania

Stanislaw Warszewicki , writer

Jan Fryderyk Wolfgang , biologist

Jakub Wujek , first translator of the Bible to the Polish Language

Tomasz Zan , poet

Honorary Doctors of Vilnius University

Jan Safarewicz , Full Member of the Polish Academy Of Sciences , Professor, Cracow Jagellonian University (1979)

Zdenek Češka , Associate Member of the Academy Of Sciences Of The Czech Republic , Rector of Charles University, Prague (1979)

Werner Scheler , Professor, Germany (1979)

Valdas Adamkus , President of Lithuania (1989)

Czeslaw Olech , Director of International Mathematical Banach Centre, Member of the Polish Academy Of Sciences , Professor, Warsaw University (1989)

Christian Winter , Professor, Frankfurt am Main University (Germany) (1989)

Vaclovas Dargužas (Andreas Hofer), Doctor of Medicine (Switzerland) (1991)

Edvardas Varnauskas , Doctor of Medicine, Professor (Sweden) (1992)

Martynas Yčas , Professor, New York State University (1992)

Paulius Rabikauskas , Professor, Gregorius University (Rome, Italy) (1994)

Tomas Remeikis , professor, Indiana Calumet College (USA) (1994)

William Schmalstieg , Professor, Pennsylvania University (USA) (1994)

Vladimir Toporov , Professor, Institute of Slavonic Languages, Russian Academy Of Sciences (1994)

Vaclav Havel , President of the Czech Republic (1996)

Alfred Laubereau , Head of the Experimental Physics Department, Munich Technical University, Professor, Bairoit University (1997)

Nikolaj Bachalov , Member of the Russian Academy Of Sciences , Head of the Computational Mathematics Department, Faculty of Mathematics, Moscow M. Lomonosov University (1997)

Rainer Eckert , Professor, Director of the Institute of Baltic Studies, Greifswald University (1997)

Juliusz Bardach , Professor, Warsaw University (Poland) (1997)

Theodor Hellbrugge , founder and Head of the Munich Children Centre, Institute of Social Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Professor, Munich University (Germany) (1998)

Friedrich Scholz , Director of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Baltic Studies, Professor, Munich University (Germany) (1998)

Zbigniew Brzezinski , Professor, Advisor of the government of USA (1998)

Maria Wasna , Doctor, Professor, psychologist, Rector of Münster University (Germany) (1999)

Ludwik Piechnik , Professor of History, Cracow Papal Theological Academy (Poland) (1999)

Sven Lars Caspersen , Professor of Economics, President of the World Rector's Association, Rector of Aalborg University (Denmark) (1999)

Wolfgang Schmid , Professor, Göttingen University (Germany) (2000)

Eduard Liubimskij , Professor, Moscow University (Russia) (2000)

Andrzej Zoll , Professor, Jagellonian University in Kraków (Poland) (2002)

Dagfinn Moe , Professor, Bergen University (Norway) (2002)

Jurij Stepanov , Professor, Moscow University (Russia) (2002)

Ernst Ribbat , Professor, Münster University (Germany) (2002)

Sven Ekdahl , Professor, Prussian Secret Archives in Berlin (Germany) (2004)

Peter Ulrich Sauer , Professor, Hanover University (Germany) (2004)

Peter Gilles , Professor, Johan Wolfgang Goethe University (Frankfurt am Main, Germany) (2004)

Francis Robicsek , Professor, Carolinas Heart Institute at Carolinas Medical Centre in Charlotte, North Carolina (USA) (2004)

Aleksander Kwaśniewski , President of the Republic of Poland (2005)

Vladimir P. Skulachev , Professor, Moscow M. Lomonosov University (Russia) (2005)

Vassilios Skouris , Professor, President of the European Court Of Justice (2005)

University now

Commemorative Coin released in 2004 to honor its 425th anniversary]]
In modern times, the University still offers studies with a strong recognized content by well-known Lithuanian scientists.

As of October 1 , 2003 there were 21,284 students studying at Vilnius University.

University rector - akad. Benediktas Juodka

Structure

There are 12 faculties: